NAIR at SPIEF-2023
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum always begins with a meeting with the national association of agencies
June 14 this year In St. Petersburg, as part of the SPIEF-2023 “zero” day program, a rich program was held for members of the National Association of Investment and Development Agencies.
At the beginning of the day, the agencies visited the Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) Traffic Control Center and the territory of the SKA Arena sports and leisure complex under construction in order to exchange experiences. These are investment projects implemented with the assistance of the St. Petersburg Investment Agency.
Next, a General Meeting of NAAIR members took place, which was opened and chaired by Sergei Belyakov, a member of the Board of the RSPP, Chairman of the Board of NAAIR. The Executive Directorate of NAAIR engages the Agency for Strategic Initiatives as experts who evaluate agency-specific indicators of the National Investment Climate Rating. At the meeting, the results of the annual NAAIR study on the activities of regional special organizations were presented, as well as the results of NAAIR research on the creation of regional investment maps (in pursuance of RIS 2.0) and regional investment portals in 2023.
In addition, during the meeting, curators of NAAIR expert platforms presented reports on the work done over the year. Among them was a report from the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan on the work of the NAIR.Global platform on international cooperation, which was delivered by Deputy Head Marina Epifantseva. The meeting ended with a report from the Executive Director of NAAIR, Deputy Managing Director of the RSPP for the Development of Economic Sectors Rafael Khusyainshin on the results of the Association’s work for the first half of the year and work plans for the second half of 2023, as well as the presentation of thanks, one of which was awarded to the Tatarstan Agency in the person of the head Talia Minullina for organizing the work of the NAIR.Global platform.
The event continued with a meeting of the NAAIR Supervisory Board.
Issues of developing tools to support investors, the role of regional development agencies in the current economic realities, opportunities for involving municipalities in systematic work with investors, issues of training personnel to work with investors and implement investment projects were discussed.
The meeting was opened and moderated by the Co-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of NAAIR, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin.
During his speech, Alexander Shokhin named the key areas for the development of investor support tools: this is the fine-tuning of federal support tools, for example, expanding the “industrial mortgage” mechanism; completion of work on the formation of a regulatory legal framework for instruments operating on the principle of “two keys” - regional and federal, including an investment tax deduction and the launch of a public project initiative within the framework of an agreement on the protection and promotion of investment.
“Regional investment agencies and development corporations are one of the key elements shaping the investment climate in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The functioning of the Development Agency in the region is one of the elements of the Regional Investment Standard 2.0. An expert assessment of the effectiveness of their work is included as an indicator of the National Rating of Investment Attractiveness of Regions. More than 6,500 investment projects are supported by regional development agencies, with an investment volume of about 17.5 trillion. rubles In the current realities, colleagues have moved from working “on the incoming flow of investors” to proactively attracting investors; working with Russian and intraregional companies has become a priority,” said Alexander Shokhin.
During the meeting, it was noted that NAAIR, within the framework of the National Rating, together with business associations, is assessing the quality of regional investment portals and investment cards.
For investment portals, there is a significant difference in terms of execution in federal districts - average execution in 2023, for example, in the Ural Federal District - 95%, and in the North Caucasus Federal District - only 55%.
Regarding investment cards: only 37% of regions have a high-quality investment card (according to the NAAIR assessment).
Since 2023, NAAIR has been conducting an independent assessment of the quality of work of regional development agencies; 80 indicators are included in the assessment methodology. In addition, as part of the assessment, a test purchase is carried out by real investors. 10 regions have already passed an independent assessment, 7 of them received NAAIR certificates, confirming the high quality of service and organization of work with investors.
“Given the importance of the role of development agencies, we consider it appropriate for the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, together with the Russian Ministry of Finance, to provide a system of financial and non-financial incentives for regional development agencies that have successfully implemented RIS 2.0,” suggested Alexander Shokhin.
As a result of the discussion, it was decided to instruct NAAIR to work out the possibility of forming a single brand for regional development agencies (similar to the “My Business” centers); together with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, develop a system of rewarding teams of regional AIRs that have successfully implemented all elements of RIS2.0; establish an all-Russian competition (“IPA Award”) to identify and encourage the best practices of regional development agencies, and more.
The first results of the instructions will be considered at the IV Congress of Regional Investment and Development Agencies, which will take place on October 5-7, 2023 in Tula.