Moscow, Russia—UPF co-organized a meeting of business leaders whose main focus was how to use wealth in pursuit of peace.

The online meeting, held on October 12, 2020, was of the Department for Economic Development of the International Peoples’ Alliance of the World (IPAOW). The alliance is an association of public, commercial, social and state organizations, international foundations, and congresses of peoples of different countries whose goal is to achieve harmonious relationships.

More than 40 participants from different cities of Russia, as well as Israel, the United States, Georgia, and other countries, discussed investment and business projects which will be presented on November 9 during the 1st Congress of the Alliance of the Peoples of the World in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

The meeting was opened by the president of the alliance, Dr. Alexander Shapiro-Suliman. He noted that the Department of Economic Development should function according to a "new formula": responding to the current unstable situation in the world on the principle of mutual assistance by heads of business projects, because all of us, as Dr. Shapiro-Suliman noted, are "a big family."

The meeting elected as the head of the department Dr. Andre Gasiorowski, who is a representative of the International Investment Group, based in Europe and the Far East, which manages macro-regional projects totaling $3 billion in the field of advanced technologies, industrial and communal infrastructure development, media products, etc.

Maria Nazarova, president of UPF-Russia, reported on the inauguration in February 2020, within the framework of the UPF World Summit in Korea, of the International Association for Peace and Economic Development (IAED), a new association of UPF. She explained the vision and goals of this association and expressed confidence that its further cooperation with the International Peoples’ Alliance of the World will be fruitful and mutually beneficial.

The president of the Lalesh international charitable fund, Ishkhan Rasoev, said he could not remain indifferent to the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Armenians and Azeris are dying again after the conclusion of the peace agreement. He asked for a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of those killed in what he called an unnecessary war.

Dr. Shapiro-Suliman—who is a plenipotentiary ambassador for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict—stressed that the alliance’s Department for Economic Development can offer projects related to the comprehensive sustainable development of the disputed territory. These projects, he said, can support the settlement of the peace process and the development of neighborly relations. He spoke of creating an eco-ethno techno-park, which should become a center for the development of education, culture, science, high technologies and international tourism.

The discussions at the meeting included businesses that are urgently needed today, such as healthcare. The participants discussed innovative developments of personal protective equipment and anti-infection additives, and they presented their projects for medical assistance and rehabilitation of victims, including in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Proposals for working with the banking sector, projects for the digitalization of the economy, were also raised.

Of course, such an important area as personal self-improvement and spending time to care for the soul cannot be ignored. In this regard, a project was announced to create a family center in Israel, a hotel chain for families, a project to develop the creative potential of children, a training project on the development of soft skills, and the formation of leadership skills.

Dr. Larisa Stadler, vice president for strategic planning at the International Peoples’ Alliance of the World, described the business forum and exhibition of investment and business projects that is scheduled to take place on November 9 during the alliance’s congress in Sochi. Dr. Stadler emphasized that the formation of such projects can change the situation in the world through the encouragement of friendly relations.

Dr. Andre Gasiorowski, the head of the alliance’s Department for Economic Development, said that, with such a variety of projects affecting many spheres of life, the most important thing now is to “unite joint efforts and help each other in the implementation of projects.”