Sochi, Russian Federation
September 30, 2019

Mr. Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, tackles the theme of the 16th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club this year, ‘The Dawn of the East and the World Political Order’, in an interview during the 2nd day of the conference taking place at the Polyana 1389 Hotel in Sochi, Russian Federation on October 1, 2019.

Mr. Bystritskiy also cited the reasons why the Club invited President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to participate in the Plenary Session, the first time that a Philippine Chief Executive would be attending the said conference, as well as the important role that the Philippines currently plays in the Asian region, and his expectations on what President Duterte shall be discussing in his message during the Plenary Session.

Founded in 2004 and reformatted in 2014, the Valdai Discussion Club is ‘a unique association of leading foreign and Russian experts in several key spheres, including history, political science, economics and international relations’. It is one of Russia’s prominent and respected think tanks, ‘capable of producing a sought-after intellectual product and participating in the formation of a global intellectual agenda’, from the Russian perspective and point of view.

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