Last year, Andrey Illarionov - the Russian President's economic advisor, Tatyana Paramonova - Senior Deputy Chairperson of the Central Bank, Viktor Gerashchenko - YUKOS' Board Chairman, as well as other top Russian business representatives spent the November holidays in Hong Kong, where the tenth international conference "Expansion of Capital: from National Economies to a Transnational Economy" organized by RBC Group was taking place.

The name of the conference rang especially relevant in the context of the expansion of western life-style into the most ancient of all existing civilizations. However, the West and the East do not clash here: the rather rundown lodgings and neighborhoods, consisting entirely of boats, in the ancient fishing port of Aberdeen blend in perfectly well with the magnificent skyscrapers of transnational companies, banks, exchanges and malls. Out in the streets, with their traffic on the left hand side of the road and double-decker busses, the distinct flavors of Chinese food linger in the air, while the signposts show both hieroglyphs and Latin characters getting along just fine.

Why was Hong Kong chosen as the place to hold the conference? - This was a question I addressed to Yury Rovensky, General Director of RBC Group.

From a business perspective, Hong Kong is undoubtedly the center of oriental civilization. Hence, it holds a great appeal for Russia. Many big Russian enterprises have already set up representative offices here, and are expanding in the region. I hope that our conference, held in an exceedingly picturesque environment, served as an occasion to consider such opportunities for the rest of our companies.

What does RBC regard as its mission when arranging such conferences?

We believe our main task is to support enterprise - informational support above all. We hold conferences primarily to offer new opportunities to business. We believe that in the present-day political and economic situation, that is after Vladimir Putin's visit to China, Russian-Chinese business relations will be getting more dynamic, to which we are trying to contribute, as far as we are concerned. Never before, throughout the whole history of cooperation with Russia, had Honk Kong received such a numerous and impressive delegation. 257 people attended the conference, representing the President's administration, the Economic Development Ministry, the Central Bank, the Justice Ministry, the Energy Ministry, the Auditing Chamber, and ten Russian regions, including Moscow, Yakutia, Irkutsk.

Yet, without a doubt, it's business representatives who were the core participants. I made a special point of counting them: 27 banks took part in the conference - the Central Bank, Sberbank and Bank of Moscow included. Many big corporations, such as Interros and Norilsk Nickel, as well as companies of various specializations from the food industry to the hi-tech sector were represented. Such versatility on the part of conference participants, with various industries and groups of interest represented, provides an opportunity for immediate contacts and establishment of new business relations.

And yet, it's only with reservations that the conference can be referred to as an international one, since almost no representatives of foreign companies could be observed at the conference. Rather, it is a Russian event, moved to another country…

No, this is not so. Our conference cannot be regarded as a merely Russian event, even if there weren't many speakers representing foreign countries. I would like to reiterate that the final day of the conference was devoted to study tours of the Hong Kong Exchange, the Bank of China, Hong Kong Cyber Port, Hong Kong Marine Terminal, with working meetings also being held in those locations.

We designed the program of the conference so as to give the people interested in the region as much information as possible during the first few days, whereupon we sought to offer them a chance to exercise their interest. The conference turned out to be a sort of accelerated regional MBA course, with theory, which first helps everyone to decide on an individual task, and afterwards affords them the opportunity to solve the task.

For instance, in his address to the conference, General Director of Invest Hong Kong Mike Rowse gave a down-to-earth explanation of the benefits, including tax-free sectors; streamlined customs legislation; official incentive programs for gaining citizenship; privileges for establishing new businesses, and other benefits that Hong Kong offers to foreign investors. This was something of interest to many participants. I cannot mention the names, but I know of two companies that have already entered into negotiations to open their representative offices in Hong Kong.

This was neither a symposium, nor a scientific congress, but a pure business conference offering a chance to exchange opinions, and to participate in a discussion. It provided informal communication, the chance to meet new people, and business contacts.

Does RBC find such conferences a profitable activity?

It is a breakeven activity, largely thanks to the interest of sponsors - the people who help organize and hold such events. The interest is quite natural, given that conference participants represent their target audience - that is decision-makers, newsmakers, and active consumers.

As for RBC, it is a kind of feedback to its audience and subscribers, since personalities are extremely important for people. What's RBC? It's some obscure information environment: agencies, television, newspapers, the Internet. Such events allow us to establish closer relations with the audience we work for on the one hand, and for the audience - they provide a better insight into RBC's activities on the other. The conference is an event designed for the synergy of RBC's business and RBC's image.

At the same time, being an open public company, we didn't want to disappoint our partners, investors, and stockholders with well-intentioned but unprofitable projects.

Nowadays, RBC is, above all, a mass medium. Are you satisfied with the response that the conference gained in the mass media?

Virtually the next day after our speakers had taken to the floor, the information found its way into the Russian mass media - thanks to RIA Novosti and RBC news agencies.

Moreover, some participants' statements - above all, those that were off-hand - even affected the stock market. As such, the statement by Viktor Gerashchenko about possible changes in YUKOS's stockholders was taken lively by the stock market, and entailed the growth of the company's stock quotation.

The Hong Kong Morning Post, The Financial Times and two more Chinese newspapers were among the foreign mass media to cover the conference, and shared the opinion that it was an interesting, informative event, attended by many representatives.

Why weren't there any live broadcasts on RBC-TV? Since the conference took place during the public holidays, we thought it inexpedient to broadcast the conference live. Yet, the cameras were on, which means that the proceedings and analytical information will be available to TV viewers.

Let me ask one last question. Do you already know where the next conference is to be held and what it will be dedicated to?

There's no exaggeration in saying that this tour proved a success. We exerted every effort to create a comfortable environment for participants, so that they could make full use of the conference. We worked from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with short intervals for lunch and coffee breaks. Sure enough, if a person is receiving that much information, he/she wants rest and relaxation; therefore, we arranged a sightseeing program and evening entertainments. The four days of the conference swept by in a flurry. That was our intention, since we realized that the participants were not the kind people to demand relaxation and free time. This is not their lifestyle. This is what knocks them out of their usual way of life and makes them feel ill at ease.

We have decided to hold the next conference in Switzerland in the city of Gstaad. Nowadays, the canton of Zurich offers new advantageous terms; proposes financial and tax initiatives for European companies, and is willing to offer these to Russian financiers and businessmen. Further to this, Gstaad possesses a well-known ski resort, which provides an opportunity for us to couple business and pleasure. It's all the more important since a happy businessman means a successful businessman, which in its turn means a rich country. People want a decent and wealthy life, which could be referred to as positive egoism, a trait to be nursed and cherished.

Indeed, to work productively, one has to learn how to relax, which is what the most active conference participants proved good at doing, since they managed to enjoy the view of Hong Kong from Victory peak; to make a tour of the Asian Monte Carlo - the former Portugal colony of Macao; to have a swim in the sea; a walk around the jade market, and a jolly time in a Hong Kong night club to the songs of Mumiy Troll, a Russian band.

Bella Zlatkis, Deputy Chairman of Sberbank's Management Committee

Nowadays, it's impossible to operate within the boundaries of one country, one business; therefore people have to keep in touch, to maintain business relations above all, for their businesses to be a success. It's not a problem for me to make a phone call to somebody and ask a question, for I have established a great many relations during my years spent at the Finance Ministry - yet it's impossible to communicate with everyone at once. But, if you want your business to be a success, you have to routinely socialize with the big business community. It's not some two or three fellow businessmen, whose opinion you can probably guess in advance, it's new people you need, whom you could never have met in a different situation. This is typical for the world in general, and therefore, such conferences are being held in Europe and overseas far more often, and in more varied forms.

Tatyana Paramonova, the Central Bank's Senior Deputy Chairperson

I have taken part in many conferences organized by RBC, and I have witnessed the range of parties involved growing from year to year. In this regard, RosBusinessConsulting is concerned with an honorable activity, since the broadening of contacts, and the creation of a special environment are exceedingly beneficial for business. Moreover, with conferences being held in foreign countries, they help draw the attention of business representatives from different regions to Russia.

Viktor Gerashchenko, YUKOS's Board Chairman

On the one hand, with such conferences being held so far away, they consume quite a lot of time. On the other hand, they offer the opportunity to see business operating in such locations, which you would never have visited unless you had a definite purpose. Again, it's a good chance to make new acquaintances and establish new contacts, including business representatives.

Alexander Shokhin, Renaissance Capital Supervisory Board Chairman

As to conferences involving mostly Russian politicians, statesmen, businessmen and journalists, with the few exceptions of local business and political community representatives delivering welcome speeches, a question often arises: why should we have gone to Hong Kong or Switzerland or any place else? The answer to this is quite simple: when such conferences are held in Moscow, people only come to listen to a report by a particular speaker and then leave. Therefore, held in this form, conferences provide less opportunity for communication - for behind-the-scenes discussions are just as important as plenary sessions and roundtable meetings at a conference

Any conference of that kind is aiming at communication between businessmen and public officers. Although here, the authorities are represented by what can hardly be referred to as decision-making officials (deputy ministers, advisors, department heads), the business community still stands a chance of getting an insight into the range of problems this or that government entity is currently concerned with. For businesses, the information - whether there is any tightening or easing expected, whether it's time to invest or to hold, where to invest: in Russia or abroad - is essential for making opportune decisions. For business, such conferences constitute another opportunity to probe further into the situation, and to confirm or refute one's conclusions and opinions; for the authorities, they provide a chance to get a feel for what business is finding vital at the moment, and if any policy adjustments are required. Thereto, with a conference being held in such an exceptionally challenging place as Hong Kong - once a colony, now a city-state, although officially a part of China, but governed according to a special scheme for a few more decades - participants gain the possibility of seeing the interior mechanism of such an economic model and of a state of that kind, and how it operates.

Alla Khrabrykh