Plenary session

The key event of the Forum was the plenary session, which includes speeches by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of foreign states: Luis Alberto Arce Catacora of Bolivia and Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe.

In his speech, Putin outlined structural changes that the government will actively support, noted the achievements of the Russian economy and existing problems in the country and around the world, and also spoke about a wide range of geopolitical issues, including cooperation as part of BRICS.

Putin emphasized: "I am certain that both in the current situation and in the long term, the role, weight, and, going even further, the future of states depend on how effectively they can respond to global challenges, realize their internal potential, use their competitive advantages and neutralize weaknesses, and maintain and strengthen partnerships with other countries."

The leaders of Bolivia and Zimbabwe gave speeches and touched upon issues on the current international agenda.

Business program

Many of the business programs' discussions took place within four thematic pillars: "Goals and Objectives of Russia's New Economic Cycle"; "The Transition to a Multipolar World Economy"; "Technologies for Leadership"; and "A Healthy Society, Traditional Values and Social Development: The Priority of the State." 

The main theme of this year's program was national sovereignty in political, economic and cultural relations. Most of the discussions focused on economic priorities; opportunities for trade, technological, scientific, and industrial cooperation; financial culture as a driver of economic development; digital e-commerce; banking services; global food security in light of the economic restrictions imposed by countries of the collective West; and other economic-related areas.

The first track featured discussions about technological sovereignty, the new trajectories of international partnership, digital trade, and preferences for payments in national currencies.

The second track focused on approaches to achieving Russia's national development goals, key tourism development issues, the future of small towns, and infrastructure.

The third track included discussions about digital transformation, biometrics, industrial mining, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

The fourth track touched on health protection technologies and investment in demographics, human resources, and the professions of the future. The health of the nation was chosen as one of the priority areas of domestic policy.

International cooperation

Active international cooperation that aims to intensify equitable interaction with developing countries was a prominent focus of the program.

The Forum's Russian and foreign guests were actively involved in such events as the Russian-African Conference "Water: More Precious Than Gold," the EAEU-ASEAN session, and business dialogues with representatives of Azerbaijan, Brazil, Venezuela, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, South Africa, as well as other countries of Africa and Latin America.

The Forum participants paid particular attention to new opportunities for trade and economic cooperation between BRICS countries as part of the organization's planned expansion. The experts noted that BRICS members already account for more than a third of the global economy. They discussed ways to build an independent system of international financial transactions, promising transport corridors, cooperation in the digital economy, and much more.

Separate discussions focused on prospects for the development of business partnerships within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including in transport, energy and the green economy.

Industry-specific and thematic events

Per tradition, the SPIEF also included the following smaller forums: the B20, SME Forum, ''Ensuring Drug Security'' Russian Pharmaceutical Forum, BRICS Creative Business Forum, and International Youth Economic Forum.

This year, a lot more social platforms and projects were presented at the Forum: Innovation Space, Healthy Life Area, VinoGrad, Russian Design Space, Governors' Club, Roscongress Urban Hub, Roscongress Foundation Projects Lounge, Roscongress Social Platform, and Roscongress Club.

The Innovation Space, a Roscongress Foundation project dedicated to startups, science and new technologies, was the most extensive in the Forum's history. People came together on an area of more than 1,000 square meters to discuss the future of technology, see demonstrations of advanced developments and hear pitch sessions for young companies.

In addition, for the first time in the history of SPIEF, the Innovation Space hosted the international cyber exercise Standoff, which was organized by Positive Technologies, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. During the exercise, information security specialists checked the security of companies in different sectors of the economy in real time using the example of a virtual city. A model of an entire city was built at the Innovation Space to visualize the damage that hacker attacks can cause.

The opening day of the SPIEF featured the Russian Pharmaceutical Forum ''Ensuring Drug Security,'' which was organized with the support of the Russian Ministry of Health, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Committee on Health Protection of the Russian State Duma. The Forum's business program included 14 expert discussions that were attended by more than 140 experts.

The thematic Healthy Life Area was also organized on the sidelines of the Forum per tradition. This year, the stand was designed in the format of a single innovative digital space that combines advanced healthcare technologies, digital solutions, as well as achievements in artificial intelligence, medical science and active longevity technologies. The Healthy Life ecosystem organized 18 panel discussions, in which more than 100 industry experts took part.

The Roscongress Medicine project, which combines best practices and promising technologies in healthcare with the aim of further promoting them in Russia and abroad, was presented at the SPIEF 2024.

The Roscongress Foundation Projects Lounge special thematic platform made its debut at the SPIEF in 2024 and served as a hub for the presentation of key projects of the Foundation and its partners. Visitors to the site learned about the International City Forum, which the Roscongress Foundation intends to hold in early 2025 on the Sirius Federal Territory.

The BRICS Creative Business Forum, which was organized by the Roscongress Foundation's social platform, the Innosocium Foundation, also took place at the SPIEF. Of the 19 discussions held at the Forum, 16 focused on the development of creative industries in BRICS countries, including the plenary session "Great Cultures: New Opportunities for Creative Interaction among BRICS Countries."

The Innosocium Foundation held the BRICS National Brands exhibition, which is devoted to the cultural identity of BRICS countries, in the historical building of the Ilya Repin St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

The VinoGrad space hosted the Travel Across Russia gastronomic performance for the first time.

This year, the key theme of the Urban Hub space was "Roscongress Urban Hub. Cities from the Future." The business program addressed such issues as advanced technologies in construction, ways to maximize the urban prosperity index, integrated development programs for territories, as well as the capabilities of a digital and comfortable city.

In addition, a discussion was held about urban master plans, during which the speakers explained how an urban master plan should become a tool for attracting investment and renovating infrastructure.

During the Forum, the Roscongress Foundation presented its projects to boost the country's human resources potential: The Country's Potential; the School Friend social project; the RС Skills inclusive project; Hunter's Day Career Project; The Country's Potential. Career; and RС Commonwealth.

The Roscongress Foundation and the Republic of Chuvashia combined the Embroidered Map of Russia cultural heritage project and the developments of the MARMA Laboratory of Modern Technologies to create the project Interactive AR Map of Russia's Regions, which reveals the cultural identity and investment potential of each of the country's 89 regions.