You are invited to the Introductory Meeting to launch the Creative Industries Development Partnership, which is funded by the Tacis Cross-Border Co-operation Small Projects Facility.

Creative Industries are the fastest-growing economic sector in Europe, made up of small and medium enterprises whose business activity is based on creativity in the arts, design and knowledge skills, and entrepreneurship. St Petersburg, Russia's cultural and high-tech industry capital, has outstanding potential in this sphere.

Aims of the Meeting

• to share with St Petersburg specialists the experience of European Union countries in supporting the development of enterprise in the cultural sphere
• to review the potential for adapting the European models for Russia.

Participants
St Petersburg will be represented by senior officials from the City Administration, international technical assistance organisations, the relevant support and training institutions, and existing and nascent creative industries. In addition there will be representatives from the city governments of Helsinki, Manchester and Barcelona, as well as the Tacis programmes and other donor organisations.

Meeting format
The meeting is targeted on a maximum of 40 participants, key individuals in this sphere, with the intention of creating a favourable forum for the direct exchange of information and discussion. It will aim to deal with such questions as:

• What are the creative industries
• What is their strategic role in city development
• What is their economic impact
• How can they benefit St Petersburg

The working languages will be Russian and English, with simultaneous translation of the presentations and consecutive interpretation of the round table discussion. The meeting will take place from 9.30 (coffee and registration), with the working session 10.00-14.00; it will conclude with an informal buffet lunch at 14.00.

Please indicate on the Registration Form your participation, or that of your named representative. We will be very glad to welcome you to the Meeting.

Please contact: Elena Belova, tel/fax: (812) 319 9626; e-m: belova@leontief.spb.su

9.30	Registration/coffee
10.00	Welcome Evgeny Kolchin, Chair, St. Petersburg's Committee for Culture
10.20	Introduction to Creative Industries Development Partnership Project Susan Causey, Project co-ordinator Justin O'Connor, Director, Manchester Institute for Popular Culture
10.50 - 12.00	Panel. Experience of European Union countries in promoting creative industry sector. Chaired by: Irina Karelina, General director, Leontief Centre and Susan Causey, Project co-ordinator Speakers: Georg Dolivo, Helsinki, Director, European Culture Capital 2000 Aileen McEvoy, Manchester, Deputy Director, North West Arts Board Jordi Pascual I Ruiz, Barcelona Institut de Cultura
	Discussants: Tatiana Azernikova, Chief Specialist, Committee for Economy and Industrial Policy Viacheslav Baturo, St. Petersburg Department of State Employment Service, Small Business Advisory Centre
12.00 - 12.30	Coffee break
12.30 - 13.10	Panel. Support Services for Creative Entrepreneurship within EU countries Speakers: Timo Cantell, City of Helsinki Urban Facts, Andy Lovatt, Director, Manchester's Cultural Industries Development Service (CIDS)
13.10 - 14.10	Discussants: Andrei Zonin, Director, Institute for Cultural Programmes Elena Kolovskaya, Director, Institute ProArte Harald Neimeier, EBRD, Fund for SME support Marina Istomina, Director, The Cultural Fund Nikolai Medvedev, General director, Pushkinskaya 10
14.10 - 14.45	Creative Industry representatives: Marina Lebedeva, Director, International Festival 'Evolution of Interior' Felix Naroditsky, Director, JFC-Jazz-Club Tatiana Ponomarenko, Director, Borey Art Center
	Closing remarks
14.45	Lunch

St. Petersburg City Administration

Cultural/Creative Sector