BRIF'26 Program
Main theme – "Economy of Efficiency: From Investment to Productivity"
09:00 – 11:30
Participant registration, welcome coffee
09:00 – 17:00
Business Contacts Exchange and "Green Corridor" desk
A key communication platform for finding partners.
Start networking in the forum chat: post your business card in the appropriate thread and arrange a meeting through the "Contacts Exchange".
At the platform itself, you will be able to hold negotiations and get advice from "Green Corridor" experts for prompt resolution of issues.
10:00 – 11:30
"New Industry: Labor Productivity, AI, Robotics, and Human Resources for a Growth Economy"
Process standardization, workforce balancing, robotics, and digitalization are becoming key drivers of labor productivity growth, increased enterprise competitiveness, and technological sovereignty. In the face of a personnel shortage, industry faces not so much the question of whether digital transformation is needed, but how to make it economically efficient and widespread.
Participants will discuss practical experience in eliminating losses through process standardization, reducing personnel needs through workforce balancing tools, and implementing robotic solutions at Russian enterprises: real economic effects, impact on productivity and employment. Special attention will be paid to the transition from point solutions to systematic work on labor productivity growth at the industry level.
The session will serve as a platform for exchanging successful practices between businesses and development institutions, demonstrating which solutions are already shaping a new scenario for increasing labor productivity in Russia.
10:00 – 14:00
International Procurement Session
In 2025, CIS countries accounted for about USD 830 million of non-resource, non-energy exports from enterprises in the Leningrad Region. The structure of such exports is more diversified compared to non-CIS countries. Due to simplified market requirements, over 80% of novice exporters identify CIS countries as their target consumers in the first year of developing foreign sales. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are consistently among the top 5 export destinations for small and medium-sized businesses in the Leningrad Region.
The International Procurement Session is held with the participation of distributors and retail chains from Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan in the following areas: building materials, metal structures, food industry and dietary supplements, FMCG goods, including private label.
The aim of the event is to develop export supplies from enterprises in the Leningrad Region, introduce new companies from among small and medium-sized businesses to exports, expand the geography and increase the volume of supplies for existing exporters.
11:30 – 12:00
Coffee break
12:00 – 13:45
Plenary session "The Region in the Era of the New Economy. How to Sustain Growth Amid Macroeconomic Challenges"
In the context of high cost of capital, personnel shortages, and the transformation of global markets, sustainable economic growth requires new approaches to regional development. The plenary session will be a key platform for discussing fundamental trends and forecasts for the development of macroeconomic processes, successes in implementing the Structural Change Plan, and practical solutions for achieving national goals of technological leadership.
Participants will analyze ways to improve the efficiency of using existing capacities and infrastructure, reconsider approaches to meeting personnel needs taking into account regional and industry contexts, and identify which industries and government support measures will become growth drivers until 2030.
13:45 – 14:00
Official signing ceremony of agreements on socio-economic cooperation
with the Governor of the Leningrad Region
14:00 – 15:00
Coffee break
15:00 – 16:30
"Regional Export: Challenges and Practical Solutions for Business"
The active transformation of Russia's foreign economic activity has continued over the past few years. On the one hand, there are clear shifts and new opportunities; on the other, serious challenges persist: foreign partners and customary interaction channels are changing, logistics corridors and payment systems are being restructured. For some regions of Russia, these changes bring "easy" dividends. For others, particularly those historically oriented toward the Western market, they necessitate the search for new solutions.
The session is designed as a practice-oriented platform. Participants will consider current requests from industrial enterprises and discuss practical steps aimed at finding viable channels for entering new foreign markets and establishing a foothold there.
15:00 – 16:30
Meeting of the Council for Improving the Investment Climate on the organized recruitment of labor migrants in the Leningrad Region.
16:30 – 18:00
Award ceremony for winners of the "Exporter of the Year" competition
"Exporter of the Year" is a national award for companies and entrepreneurs who have achieved success in the export of non-resource, non-energy goods and services. The competition is held within the framework of the national project "International Cooperation and Export," and the regional stage is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Standard for Ensuring Favorable Conditions for the Development of Export Activities in the Subjects of the Russian Federation (Regional Export Standard) and the regional project "Systemic Measures for the Development of International Cooperation and Export in the Leningrad Region."
In 2026, 53 applications were submitted for the regional competition from exporting enterprises of the Leningrad Region, including 20 applications in the industrial sector, 18 in the agricultural sector, 14 in high technology, and 1 in the service sector. The competition commission evaluated the applications in accordance with the methodology approved in the competition regulations, and 23 companies were recognized as winners and prize-winners.
