The key purpose of the Forum is to provide practical solutions for businesses and governments, helping to overcome the geographic and information barriers between Russia and other countries.

[7] The first St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held on June 18–20, 1997 under the auspices of the Council of the Federation, the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS and with the support of the Russian government.

Furthermore, it was also recommended that the Russian government provide possible financing and organizational support to the Council of the Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS.

Responsibility for the organization of the forum was given to the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, which built on the experiences of the Council of the Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS.

According to media reports, after the 2008 Forum, during a government Presidium meeting, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov, whose address at SPIEF had resonated greatly with investors, received a verbal admonishment from Vladimir Putin.

The structure of the programme was built on four pillars: "Securing the Future", "Realizing Russia's Potential", "Responding to Impact Technologies", and "Conversations to Make a Difference".

Due to diplomatic tensions between Russia and a number of Western nations, heads of major corporations based in the US, Europe, and other regions declined to participate in the Forum.

Speaking to reporters, an official White House representative confirmed that their administration had discussed the possibility of declining invitations to SPIEF with US business executives.

Among the most memorable events of the Forum was the exhibition on Regional Markets of Russia and CIS countries, and the presentation of the Greater Volga and Siberian Agreement inter-regional associations for economic interaction between federal subjects of the RF.

Forum participants included the UN Under Secretary General, Mark Brown; Acting President of the EBRD, Charles Frank; and representatives of OSCE and other international organizations and institutions.

During the Forum, a Moscow-Paris teleconference dedicated to a number of social and economic problems was organized, which was attended by members of the Federation Council of Russia, and French senators, as well as prominent thought leaders and public figures of the two countries.

The presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent letters of welcome to Forum participants.

The global financial crisis and problems associated with the dollar's decline, the emergence of sovereign investment funds, and a rise in energy and food prices are individual manifestations of such processes.

The problem of climate change can be added to the list, the solution of which requires not just individual, but collective efforts on the part of the majority of the world's nations.

Forum participants discussed new approaches to understanding the future of international financial institutions, the prospects for development of the banking sector, the efficiency of measures taken by governments and other equally important issues.

The work of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was covered by 1,200 media representatives from 28 countries (Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the United Kingdom, Germany, Georgia, Egypt, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Canada, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, China, Lithuania, Macedonia, Russia, Rumania, the United States, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, the Philippines, Finland, France, Switzerland, Sweden, and Japan).

Media outlets of 24 countries were represented, namely: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Britain, Germany, India, Iran, Spain, Italy, Qatar, China, Lithuania, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovenia, United States, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, France and Japan.

The XVII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held from June 20 to 22, 2013 – this year's theme was "Finding Resolve to Build the New Global Economy".

Another record statistic concerning SPIEF 2013 was the number of agreements signed – 102 deals amounting to a financial value of 9.6 trillion rubles (US$291 billion), which is approximately 30 times more than equivalent figure from last year's forum.

The proceedings of the Forum were attended by the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Mrs Angela Merkel, and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr Mark Rutte.

The participants in this B20 summit brought concrete proposals to St. Petersburg with them – aimed at stimulating the global economy, creating jobs, and improving the world's monetary and financial system.

Those present included Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping[citation needed], and heads of state of Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Iraq.

Russian political scientist Sergey Karaganov was a host for the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum where he shared the stage with Vladimir Putin.

Dilma Rousseff, the President of the BRICS New Development Bank, met with Sergey Glazyev, the Minister of Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Prior to 2011, SPIEF Foundation headquarters were located in Pavilion 9 of the Lenexpo Exhibition Complex, inside the Marine Fleet Research and Development Institute building.

In 2011, the SPIEF Foundation was named sole state contractor for a wide range of services related to organizing and conducting events around Russia's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation chairmanship, with the exception of the summit held as part of the Forum.

Official SPIEF cars: In 2007, the organizers began to pay closer attention to the non-business part of the programme: cultural events taking place under the auspices of the forum.

Some sources have suggested the cultural programme was initially developed for people accompanying forum participants (primarily spouses) who did not attend roundtables.

Since the programme varies each year, many events are offered only once, with the notable exception of traditional private official receptions hosted by the Governor and the Organizing Committee.

At the same time, in 2007 the Forum launched what would become traditional annual open-air concerts on Palace Square in St. Petersburg, performed by some of the world's most famous artists and designed to highlight SPIEF's social significance.