ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - The Chairman of the World Trade Center Taipei, Francis Liang, recently attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he spoke on the importnace of trade and cooperation at a time of slow global economic growth. The General Director of World Trade Center Moscow, Vladimir Salamatov, was also present at the event where he shared valuable insights on the future of international trade.

Held on the 18th and 19th of June, the two-day event is hailed as the third largest economic forum in the world and the main platform for discussions on the Russian economy. Liang and Salamatov were invited to participate as panelists on the topic of international trade. Liang was the first-ever representative from Taiwan to participate in the forum.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was founded in 1997. The forum was initially a business platform for the commonwealth of the independent states, and gradually evolved into a leading business network across Europe and Asia.

On the invitation of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Prikhodko, Liang joined the forum to discuss the global economic slowdown and the rising trend of regional trade integration. He proposed ways for economies to facilitate the expansion of free trade zones, and shared Taiwan’s experience with UN regional economists, former EU executives, and the Minister of Eurasian Economic Commission.

At the forum, Liang also met with Sergei Trofimov (General Director of World Trade Center St. Petersburg), Vladimir Salamatov (General Director, World Trade Center Moscow), Vladimir Katenev (St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and Sergei Sutyrin (Director of "WTO Chair" Programme, St. Petersburg State University) to talk about the potentials of closer industrial cooperation between Taiwan and Russia.

As the trade activities between Taiwan and Russia have increased dramatically in recent years, WTC Taipei has organized numerous trade missions to participate in Russia’s exhibitions in 2015. Meanwhile, WTC Taipei has continued to arrange procurement meetings for Russian buyers to meet with the vendors in Taiwan.

PHOTO: WTC Taipei Chairman Francis Liang (middle) presented as the panalist in the international trade section