Senator Kosachev attended the International Municipal BRICS Forum.
Interregional and intermunicipal cooperation plays a crucial role in developing political, economic and humanitarian ties between BRICS member countries and their citizens.
This statement was made by Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev during his address at the International Municipal BRICS Forum held as part of the Russian BRICS chairmanship at the Moscow Expocentre on 27−28 August.
According to Mr Kosachev, municipal dialogue is the most democratic and equal type of interaction. “City parliaments, as communities of legislators and people’s representatives, play a special role in expanding this dialogue. They have instructions from voters and the powers to translate them into legislative decisions,” Konstantin Kosachev said.
He noted that Russia’s international cooperation with other countries became more active in 2023. “The number of visits to foreign countries by delegations from Russian regions and the number of visits to constituent entities of the Russian Federation paid by foreign partners increased by 42 percent.”
Konstantin Kosachev spoke about Russia’s successful experience with hosting bilateral interregional forums, such as the Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions. “We are confident that this experience is applicable within BRICS as a democratic association of a new type, aimed at addressing the most important problems facing the population of our countries, which makes up 41 percent of human civilisation, or more than three billion people,” he said.
He reminded his audience that the 6th International Municipal BRICS Forum was taking place ahead of the BRICS Summit and was a major venue for discussing municipal cooperation and exchanging best practices.
The forum programme included more than 70 business events and a large-scale exhibition. The participants discussed issues related to promoting trade and investment relations, exchanging experience on using digital technologies, artificial intelligence and green technologies to create a comfortable living environment, environmental matters and climate change, and effective solutions in education, healthcare, culture, and tourism – all aimed at increasing the appeal of cities, territories and regions.