Dialogue in the name of the development

The participants of the anniversary 15th edition of the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum discussed a wide range of practical issues in the field of economy and finance, healthcare, environment, energy and technological innovations in Greater Eurasia in Baku at the end of October. The theme of this year’s forum is ‘Eurasia on the way to a new geopolitical, social and economic order: transition to a new human-centred economy’. The forum has been organised by the non-profit association Conoscere Eurasia and the Roscongress Foundation, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with the support of the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan.

Baku
Photo: www.ria.ru

Frank conversation about the fate of the planet

The Eurasian Economic Forum, which traditionally took place in the Italian city of Verona in autumn, has changed its location this year. It celebrated its 15th birthday on the shores of the Caspian Sea — in the capital of Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy that the event was held in Italy even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, today’s geopolitical realities forced the organisers to change the traditional venue of the forum. One thing has not changed: a wide range of participants from all over the world and hot topics.
On the first day of the forum, the participants discussed global energy challenges and European energy security. Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin spoke in detail about the new reality of commodity and energy markets, “The sources of the current artificially created energy crisis are not in the events in Ukraine and not in the sanctions, but in the colossal underinvestment in the industry, one of the reasons for which is the irresponsible and adventurous policy of an accelerated ‘green’ transition. And in further anti-Russian sanctions as a powerful additional catalyst for the energy crisis and inflation in general. The single energy market no longer exists in the world. There are no rules.”
Igor Sechin also added,

“We all understand that the ‘kidnapping’, and in fact, the economic murder of Europe, is only an attempt to extend the period of American hegemony as much as possible. However, a new historical stage will inevitably come and will be associated with the development of cross-border corridors, the implementation of major infrastructure and industrial joint projects, and the increasing role of regions in the global economy. Eurasia will become a new area of growth.”

A world without ‘masters’ and ‘vassals’

An interesting fact: despite all the difficulties of the international situation, the current Verona Eurasian Economic Forum brought together representatives from almost 30 countries. Interest in this business negotiation platform is high this year as well. It is understandable: the problems faced by the world community can only be solved by joining forces, says President of the Conoscere Eurasia Association Antonio Fallico,  The year that has passed since the previous forum was especially full of events and changes. In some ways, we are witnessing an acceleration of events in the world economy that previously developed weakly or even covertly.”
According to the expert, the turning point, after which many factors became apparent, was the global economic crisis of 2008. By the way, it was not random and cyclical. The blow was dealt to the system itself, that is, to globalised neoliberalism. As a result, there is a need for a deep change in the neoliberal development model and, at the same time, the beginning of the formation of a new economic system.
Today, as Antonio Fallico emphasised, two simultaneous phenomena are observed: the rejection of globalisation in its previous version, which perceived the world as a single market, governed by uniform rules and regulations, and the transition to segmentation into geographic micro-regions.
“We see the Atlantic pole anchored, including mainly Western Europe and North America, with various additions such as Australia and Japan. We see the Chinese pole highlighted by the Belt and Road Initiative. A pole with its own interests is emerging around the Persian Gulf. India is also a centre of gravity and will soon become the second largest economic power in the world after China. We see the increased role of the Eurasian Economic Union, one way or another attracting the countries of the former USSR. Expanding spaces for regional co-operation in Latin America and Africa. Current events are aimed at the formation of new global economic models, but even within the regions there are contradictions and strong competition,” Antonio Fallico noted.
Nevertheless, the pessimistic view of the destroyed and divided world is not without an alternative, the Italian expert is convinced, 

“We can get out of the systemic crisis by accepting a multipolar world in its infancy without ‘exceptional countries’ and vassals or even colonies, recognising the interests and economic and geopolitical role of each state without discrimination and exceptions. 

At the same time, the absence of discrimination does not mean the absence of competition, it is even activated, but on the basis of equal fixed rules. Only in this way will it be possible to overcome the current negative context and ensure the safety and prosperity of the planet. Greater Eurasia and Russia play a decisive role here. By joining forces, it is possible to build a new humanistic economy in a multipolar world, in the centre of which is a person and his or her interests.”
To do this, it is necessary to put into practice a common international strategy, and our forum can offer one of the most effective tools — economic and business diplomacy.
Antonio Fallico is convinced that the business world, with its industrial, commercial, financial and economic structure at the international level, must direct its energy to try, despite today’s difficulties, to unite and not divide, to create and not destroy, to bring wealth and prosperity, but not poverty and desolation.

Avoiding dollar dependence

On the second day, the participants of a large-scale international meeting in the Azerbaijani capital discussed the functioning of the financial sector in the light of modern challenges, the development of transport, infrastructure and digitalisation. The focus is on the transition to new industrial structures of the economy of Greater Eurasia.
At the session on industrial and trade co-operation in modern conditions, the experts emphasised that the various restrictions introduced after those caused by the pandemic are radically changing the co-operation chains that have been built for decades. New realities show both the deep interdependence of markets and regions, and the need to reorganise co-operation systems and their geography.
President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin said that today we need to move from stabilisation to economic growth. In his opinion, in addition to the pandemic and sanctions pressure, the Eurasian region is largely affected by stagnation in the global economy, “We don’t really care about the influence of Europe, since it is closed to us. The option of restructuring the economy is a guarantee of growth. In the current conditions, it is important to stake on regionalisation. In particular, it is necessary to introduce our own payment and settlement systems. Serious investments require the creation of transport and logistics corridors. We understand how to build them. But creating a new financial system is a complex process.”
The fact that dollar models are losing their relevance and sanctions have a detrimental effect on international trade was also highlighted by the CEO of CIFAL Groupe CEO Gilles Remy, 

“Sanctions call into question all the rules of international trade. Thus, trust just erodes. Today we are back to the law of the jungle. We are no longer talking about trade, but about the confiscation of assets of other states. It will take decades to restore confidence in the international system. However, the dollar can no longer be an international currency. A new multipolar world is being born before our eyes.”

A separate session was devoted to improving the technological effectiveness of economies. Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission Sergei Glazyev noted that the Western sanctions policy only destroys the co-operation chains that have been formed for decades and have worked for the common good, “Our main priority is to expand co-operation, including international co-operation. We are working on the creation of a framework scientific and technical programme. But the erection of barriers that we are seeing from Brussels under the influence of the Americans is to the detriment of everyone. They destroy the existing co-operation and interfere with scientific and technical co-operation. It’s sad to see ties torn apart.”

The goals of Western propaganda and the future of humanism

The session dedicated to the issues of humanism aroused great interest among the forum participants and media representatives. Humanism meant faith in the creative power of man, in his desire for justice and truth, in his ability to find a way out of the difficult situation that is mutually acceptable to everyone. President of the Conoscere Eurasia Association Antonio Fallico drew attention to the fact that the resulting huge disproportion in the incomes of the rich and the poor has a bad effect on all countries, “Last year, 10 percent of the world’s population received 52 percent of the world’s total income. And the most worrying thing is that in this circle, the richest 1 percent of citizens own almost half of this wealth — 38 percent. I believe that this is an absolutely ugly state of affairs, which indirectly affects the whole world, all countries with any kind of state system.”
Antonio Fallico called neoliberalism the reason for this bias, 

“The modern neoliberal model of economic development has not only contributed to an increase in inequality, but also to an increase in risks, marginalisation in society, and unemployment. It is necessary to debunk the myths associated with the neoliberal path of development. Now humanism must once again raise its voice in order to restore man to his central place in the system of core values.”

During the discussion, experts noted an interesting fact: the inhabitants of many countries now see the real threat to democracy in the United States. Italian sociologist Giuseppe Arlacchi expressed his conviction that the United States, through its actions, is trying to slow down the progress of the international community towards a more lasting peace.
Italian journalist Giorgio Bianchi drew the attention of the audience to an important problem: the Western media use very selective approaches to coverage of events in various countries of the world, ignoring and frankly hushing up egregious facts in favour of certain forces.
“There is clear censorship, for example, we see it in relation to the Russian media, events related to Russia. This was also true of Libya, Syria... It is up to the people to decide what they should watch and what not, and, unfortunately, public opinion is already fully accepting this fact. It turns out that a well-organised wealthy minority can hold their own opinion, completely erasing the rest of the points of view. In fact, we are confronted with a neo-colonial worldview,” media expert stressed. Giorgio Bianchi drew a parallel between sanctions, embargoes and military action, “You can conquer a country through war, or you can conquer it through sanctions. Not to mention the ‘legal robbery’ of Russian citizens and Russian resources that are located in Western countries. And no one in the West said anything! All this is made possible by Western propaganda. The organised minority makes all this acceptable to the masses, and this is done by controlling all the media. Here we talked a lot about globalisation in the economy and trade, but there is also information globalisation.”
According to him, today all information centres in the West are clearly controlled by certain organisations, 

“It is the youth who believed modern Western propaganda most of all. Because young people get information mainly from influencers, from social networks, social media. And there is a very clearly established scheme for the delivery and distribution of certain necessary content. Today we must rebalance the information environment, because so far we are losing the mental war, especially in the minds of young people.”

Summing up the event, Antonio Fallico stressed that the experience of holding the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum in Baku can be considered extremely successful, “Inspired by this result, we intend to continue the chosen line, to go further across the boundless Eurasian space. This will allow both to expand the circle of participants in the Forum and to deepen the content of the discussions taking place at it.”
The Director of the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law at Azerbaijan’s National Academy of Sciences, Ilham Ramiz oglu Mammadzadeh, called on colleagues from the participating countries of the forum to think about creating a philosophy of a new order, “Philosophy is the main nerve of humanism, but today it is often pushed to the side-lines and replaced by various phenomena. It now should return to the actual problems.”
According to the speaker, philosophy is closely related to the topic of artificial intelligence, “It is clear that artificial intelligence creates a lot of problems. On the one hand, we understand that we already cannot do without artificial intelligence, but another issue is that appropriate ethics, moral standards and so on should be developed. Artificial intelligence creates great opportunities, but it is a difficult question of how to limit its negative side. Philosophers from different countries should actively hold consultations and discussions on this topic.”


Former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi,
“We are going through a very difficult moment. International relations have become a victim, a hostage of circumstance. First there was a COVID-19 pandemic, then difficulties appeared amid Russian military special operation in Ukraine. Our main goal should be to overcome this situation as soon as possible, because everyone suffers. Peace must be the main thing today, and it must be achieved... I don’t think that anyone sets himself the task of convincing the other side of his innocence. But our duty is to unite, despite all our differences... After all, the future is much more important than what is happening in the present moment.”


President for the American University in Moscow Edward Lozansky,
“Here I represent those Americans who would gladly vote for multipolarity. If we take into account the state of the United States now, the state of political life, we will see that everything is far from perfect. How can you live in conditions where half of the citizens are sure that their votes have been stolen?.. Many in America say that much of what we do at home is wrong. 98 percent of Americans are sure that the country is going in the wrong direction. They believe that Congress is not doing well. I’m citing reliable research. How can you consider yourself a leader if your own citizens say such things? Now 90 percent of citizens do not participate in decision-making — decisions are made by only 10 percent of Americans.”


FROM THE RESOLUTION OF THE 15TH EDITION OF THE VERONA EURASIAN ECONOMIC FORUM:
• The representative nature of the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum and the paramount importance for our entire super-region of the issues we are discussing gives us the right to turn to our countries and peoples and hope that our call will be heard. It needs to be followed by practical conclusions and specific cases.
• There is no alternative to broad equal and inclusive international co-operation. Economic diplomacy plays a big role in this. All countries, all regions of the planet equally need such co-operation... We call on all countries, all peoples who value a common future, to join efforts in establishing broad equal and inclusive international co-operation. Dialogue, not confrontation, development instead of regression.
• At the cost of endless sacrifices and losses, numerous wars and conflicts, as the highest value of international communication, mankind has approved the maxim pacta sunt servanda — ‘agreements must be kept’. Strict adherence to this maxim, the obligatory fulfilment of concluded contracts, the sanctity of this word create a situation of legal certainty, respect for each other and mutual trust.
• We call on everyone to unite with us and put people at the forefront of public diplomacy, civil diplomacy, as well as entrepreneurial diplomacy.

Baku
PHOTO: WWW.AKADEMIYA-GORNIH-TUROV.RU

By Marta Astreiko