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

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.

Despite the economic focus of the forum, political issues were also brought up at the St. Petersburg forum themed "Capitalizing on the New Global Economic Reality," including Western sanctions against Russia.

Guests like United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker both called for dialogues between Western countries and Russia.

"We see countries breaking ties and building new walls or barriers ...We need to strengthen ties and build bridges instead of walls," Ban said.

Meanwhile, Juncker said the implementation of the Minsk deal, signed in February 2015 to settle the Ukraine crisis, is the only way to lift the sanctions against Russia, adding that dialogues should be maintained and bridges built.

The 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is widely regarded in Russia as a chance for the country to mend its ties with Western countries.

Juncker's visit is a good sign, but no breakthrough should be expected, said Andrei Klimov, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Russia's Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament. Endi