World Monitor Magazine June #3 | Page 70

EXPERT OPINION The XIV Eurasian Media Forum in Astana This year the XIV Eurasian Media Forum to be held in Astana. Among the headliners: Bill Richardson, Jose Manuel Barroso, Parag Hannah, Abdullah Gul, Tayler Smith, Gianluca Vacchi, Leonid Slutsky, Gerd Leonard, Arthur Saudabayev, Luke Aikman, Pedro Fuentes and many others. The event annually gathers experts, politicians, economists, opinion leaders from more than 60 countries, including the world's media. This year the event is held within the framework of the international exhibition Astana Expo 2017. General Director of the International Fund ‘Eurasian Media Forum’, Ruslan Zhemkov, outlines the specific role and mission for this year. This year the forum will be held under the banner and within the context of EXPO. In addition to this new site, what other surprises await guests and participants? What is the fundamental difference from the forums of past periods? First, we follow trends, so this year we will have several thematic economic sessions. I am sure that their topics will be of interest to your readers: ‘Secrets of the Asian Economic Miracle’ and ‘Capital, Labor, Intellect – Three Whales of Tomorrow’. We plan to discuss strategy for sustainability in the era of crises, investment incentives, and the impact of integration and forced industrialization. Let's talk also about strategic tasks for business on the way to global leadership and on world markets. Who will stay afloat, and who will fly out of the race and why. We will certainly discuss the green economy as a basis for sustainable development of states within the context of the ‘Energy of the Future’". Everyone at EXPO, one way or another, will talk about it. How will your event differ fundamentally from the ent ire content of the international exhibition? The main fundamental difference is that we are an independent non-politicized and non-commercial platform. The Eurasian 64 world monitor Returning to your question about EXPO, we come to the topic of ‘green economy’ a little differently, from the position of transforming economic models and reforming established market mechanisms. Our speakers from among representatives of business, government and public institutions, experts in the field of economics and energy conservation within the framework of the session will approach the discussion from the standpoint of a system approach to alternative energy sources. This is not a complete list of topics that are planned to be discussed in the framework of the first plenary session and the forum as a whole. we mean by this? In any situation, you can find a compromise, which, one way or another, will suit all parties. Surely, you know the expression "Win-win" – this is about that. The themes of this year include the following: global reorganization of the world, the Syrian conflict, transformation on the world map and threats of the third world in the context of global informatization, technological revolution and blockade, the crisis of meanings and much more. Reasonable dialogue and the search for solutions – this in general summarizes all our activities. We sincerely believe that society can live in peace, and games with zero beneficial result will go to the past. Luckily for us, Kazakhstan very vividly demonstrates to the world community that the scenario of finding compromises is not only possible, but also realistic. The most striking example is the implementation of the ‘Astana Process’ on the Syrian conflict. In that case, what is the theme of this year's forum? Previously, we did not distinguish the theme of the year as a highlighted idea. However, with the growing popularity of the forum, more and more guests and speakers are interested in this. ‘The scenario of finding compromises’: this is the thesis of the XIV Eurasian Media Forum 2017. What did What is the global mission of the forum? This is a very correct and good question. After doing one thing for many years, you begin to understand that you’ve achieved the goals already, and that perhaps the plans are even over-fulfilled, and so you simply stop monitoring it. When the forum was conceived, we wanted to talk about Media Forum is an open dialogue on economic, political and social topics, where the opinions of the polar parties are heard and the arguments of each participant in the debate can be taken on the basis of facts and justified arguments.