St. Petersburg economic forum opens, Putin urges more global interaction

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in St. Petersburg, on June 16, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - The 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum opened here Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin urging more global interaction to solve economic problems.

The three-day forum attracted over 10,000 participants, including government and business leaders.

"The global economy is increasingly impacted by political and social factors ... It is vital that we work together in our search for additional drivers of development," Putin said in a greeting read at the opening ceremony of the three-day forum.

The forum is a platform for sharing best practices and proposing solutions to a wide range of issues, he told the forum.

Putin went on urging every nation to fully make use of the industrial, scientific, technological and innovative potential, as well as "the potential of international integration structures."

"We must react more swiftly to the shifting demands of the market and to the looming transformation of the global technological landscape," Putin added.

Discussions at the forum would provide guidance and consensus for Russian and global economic development, and give impetus to all-round international cooperation, Putin said.

This time's gathering also involves sub-forums of regional and international organizations like the Group of 20 (G20), BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

During the G20 Business 20 Forum, experts, business leaders and officials from various countries discussed issues including infrastructure, employment, development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as finance and investment.

At the warm-up of the upcoming G20 Summit, to be held in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou in September, Chinese Internet giant Alibaba's chairman Jack Ma promoted the initiative of establishing a new global e-commerce platform, the Electronic World Trade Platform or e-WTP.

Ma said that the e-WTP could become an "e-road" that better connects global SMEs through logistics and inclusive financing.

The digital trade route would lead to the establishment of various "e-hubs" in different countries, and improve the global environment for investment and economic development, Ma said.