On November 30, at the opening ceremony of the International Forum and Exhibition “Russian Industrialist” in the EXPOFORUM, they said a lot about strategic significance of industry for the country’s development, and the measures required to achieve the technological sovereignty.

Kirill Polyakov, Vice Governor of Saint Petersburg, read the welcoming speech of Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

“As per tradition, at the venue of the “Russian Industrialist,” representatives of large-scale technological companies, science, business, and government agencies discuss key branch-wise issues, exchanging experience and interesting ideas. Nowadays, when Russia faces unprecedented challenges, these meetings are particularly significant. Achievement of technological sovereignty and sustainable growth of the Russian industry are key tasks for the country. Together we have to ensure development and introduction of critical and promising nationally designed technologies. That is why the main topic of the Forum and Exhibition is import substitution and modernization of the real sector, reinforcement of the workforce capacity,” Mishustin wrote.

Also, Polyakov noted the strategic significance of the Forum and Exhibition.

“I am confident that the “Russian Industrialist” will become a venue for new breakthrough solutions in framework of the objectives set by the President of Russia,” Vice Governor said.

Aleksandr Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, announced ambitious prospects of the “Russian Industrialist.”

“For the RUIE members, the “Russian Industrialist” is an important, significant event. It’s the venue where we not only hold panel discussions, but also work in the new format. The Forum-Exhibition will host open sessions of the Union’s committees and commissions. It will allow drawing greater attention of the public, bringing our vision of how the support of industrialists and entrepreneurs will be arranged under the challenging modern conditions. I hope, the “Russian Industrialist” will develop into the international event competing with the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, as well,” Shokhin said.

Vasily Osmakov, First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, noted a crucial role of the industry for the country’s development.

“Nowadays we speak about technological sovereignty. And the technological sovereignty means industry. Therefore, it is necessary to pay as much attention as possible to issues related to developing the country’s industrial potential,” Osmakov said.

Denis Kravchenko, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, noted the new status of the Forum and Exhibition.

“Since this year, the “Russian Industrialist” will have turned into the advanced venue for ensuring rapid development, cooperation, a place for business and new contracts, the dialogue between industrialists and the government. The technological breakthrough must be accelerated, and we are ready to respond to demands of business and industry as fast as possible,” Kravchenko said.

Andrey Rudskoy, Rector of Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, emphasized particular importance of education for the industry development.

“Industrial independence is a necessary long-term program aimed at ensuring the country’s survival and prominence. That is why the role of higher education institutions has increased manifold nowadays. On their behalf, I state that we will do our best to introduce and develop the cutting-edge solutions for ensuring security and economic development of our state,” Rudskoy said.

The theme of science, education, skilled personnel and their significance has been further elaborated in the welcoming speech of Yury Borisov, CEO of Roscosmos.

“We face the task to ensure accelerated development of science, technologies and education; to shape suitable workforce capacity, to ensure development of the territories and digital transformation. In the near future Roscosmos intends to launch mass production of satellites, increase the orbit groups manifold, and start giving back what we own to the economy. We will create high-quality consumer-focused space services,” Borisov wrote.

The opening ceremony ended with the speech by Sergey Voronkov, CEO of the EXPOFORUM International.

“For ensuring Russia’s technological sovereignty, over 200,000 items of critical import need to be substituted. It means more than a million contracts and over 5 million meetings. To solve this task, we need a factory for organizing contacts and communication. The “Russian Industrialist” serves as the very venue where contacts grow into contracts, communication — into good impression and social optimism. The Forum and Exhibition features the entire lifecycle of the industry. And next year, the “Russian Industrialist” will be even larger to reach the SPIEF scale, just in relation to industry,” Voronkov said.

The International Forum and Exhibition “Russian Industrialist” take place from November 29 to December 01. Learn more on the official website of the project.