OREANDA-NEWS. July 12, 2012. The 16th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) held on June 21-23, 2012 has been one of the key discussion platforms for the world’s leading experts in politics and economics.

Deutsche Bank became the Partner of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum for the 4th year in a row, being moreover the first foreign bank to support the SPIEF business program in 2009.

Deutsche Bank’s Chief Executive Officer traditionally took the lead of the Bank’s delegation. This year it was Mr. Juergen Fitschen, who was appointed Co-Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee of Deutsche Bank AG in June 2012.

It was Mr. Fitschen’s first visit to Russia in his new role of Deutsche Bank’s Co-Chairman. During his stay he met with the top Russian authorities as well as the heads of leading Russian and international companies that have been the bank’s clients for years.

During his visit to St.Petersburg Mr. Fitschen held a traditional meeting with Deutsche Bank’s top management. In this informal conversation with Russian management he shared his views on Deutsche Bank’s future development and answered key questions regarding not only the Bank’s internal activities but also its positioning in the global economic community.

As part of the Forum program, Deutsche Bank held a business lunch for its partners, where Mr. Juergen Fitschen confirmed in his welcome speech that Russia remains a key focus for Deutsche Bank. In the course of the event, the heads of major Russian corporations and the Russian authorities had a chance to talk to Mr. Fitschen in person.

The SPIEF business program included the High-growth markets economists’ roundtable attended by leading Russian and international experts such as Yaroslav Lissovolik, Member of the Management Board and Chief Economist at Deutsche Bank Russia, and Jun Ma, Deutsche Bank’s Chief Economist for Greater China. The Session was moderated by Sergei Guriev, Rector of the New Economic School. The experts discussed the key risks and opportunities for the global economy, especially those for the major emerging markets, over the coming year and a half. Yaroslav Lissovolik pointed out that “one of the key ways to reconcile the need for macroeconomic stability and achieving relatively high growth rates is to come up with higher productivity growth rates. What matters for the global economy at this juncture is not only the quantity, but the quality and sustainability of growth”. This session was one of the most important events within the SPIEF program and gained great interest among both the participants and the media.

Deutsche Bank also supported the reception on behalf of the Organizing Committee of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which took place on June 20 at the St.Petersburg State Academic Capella.