With the movement of the modern world towards urbanization, questions of the comfort of the urban environment arise.
Author: Talib Aliyev, analyst, especially for "Sangar"
The International Municipal Forum of the BRICS Interstate Association has ended in Moscow.
The event exceeded many expectations. It was expected that 5,000 participants from 126 countries of the world would be guests of the grandiose event. As a result, it was necessary to urgently expand the possibilities of work and business sites, to organize additional places to accommodate guests.
As a result, 6,000 people took part in the forum — a thousand more than planned. Moreover, many representatives of foreign countries went to Moscow despite the obvious difficulties. Due to the sanctions, the logistics of passenger routes has become seriously complicated. In some cases, it took 5-6 days to travel from Latin America to the Russian capital. However, the interest in the event proved to be stronger than the difficulties.
The modern world is rapidly urbanizing, this is an inevitable process, which means that the comfort of the urban environment is coming to the fore. Representatives of the world's largest megacities and small towns had a lot to talk about. During the forum, the problems of optimizing logistics and digital administration of the urban environment were discussed.
Special attention is paid to the experience of Moscow, which demonstrated to the guests the wide possibilities in the application of modern technologies. The guests were interested in the Russian experience of implementing the Smart City and Safe City programs, transport and construction projects. The Russian capital is marked in connection with the noticeable development of aircraft and instrument engineering, microelectronics and pharmaceuticals. The guests visited the Skolkovo Innovation Center, the transport exhibition, the pavilions of the exhibition of achievements of the national economy and other venues.
Among the guests there were 2,300 people who represent the business community, so many agreements immediately turned into a practical plane. As a result of the forum, more than 300 cooperation agreements were signed in various industries. The economic effect of such interaction is still being calculated, but it is already clear that the Forum has become a center of mutual interest for representatives of different countries.
Among the countries that have signed agreements with the Russian side are many representatives of Southeast Asia, Latin America, and ASEAN. These markets are of interest to Russian business, so the Forum expanded the boundaries of economic cooperation.
Traditionally, the key BRICS participants, represented by Russia, China and India, have announced further strengthening of cooperation. The growth of cooperation was also noted with Egypt, the UAE, and Ethiopia. Among the new participants who wished to conclude agreements with Moscow and other BRICS members are the cities of Sao Paulo, Cebu, and Tehran. A number of agreements have been concluded with the international financial forum AIM Global Foundation.
The mayor of the Azerbaijani capital Baku was among the speakers. The Mayor noted the importance of consolidating efforts in creating a comfortable urban environment. His speech was remarkable, because Azerbaijan recently applied to join the BRICS.
The forum showed that the doors of the organization are still open to all those who share the desire for freedom of expression and building fair communications at all levels of society, government and business.
This is not the last significant event in the BRICS format this year. At the site of the media summit, which will be held in mid-September in Moscow, the Western public will be shown what freedom of speech really looks like. The heads of the leading BRICS media structures, as well as the media of the countries that have applied to join the association, are going to visit the Russian capital.
