Meeting participants discussed the results of the Petersburg Dialogue forums in 2009-2010, praising their good organisation and substantive discussions held during the 9th and 10th meetings of the Forum.
"One of the priority goals of the Petersburg Forum in the second decade since its establishment is to facilitate the Russian-German cooperation aimed at modernisation," Zubkov said in his opening address. "That is why I think we should approve the main theme proposed by our German colleagues for the forum's next, 11th meeting to be held in Germany in 2011. It will be entitled 'The State, the Economy and Citizens as Partners in Modernisation,'" the first deputy prime minister said.
Meeting participants also discussed other issues on the forum's agenda for 2011 and elected new heads of the working groups "Civil Society" and "The Media": Mikhail Fedotov, chairman of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, and Vitaly Ignatenko, director general of the Itar-Tass news agency.
They also supported the proposal that Andrei Bodin, board chairman of the Union of Russian Sugar Producers, and Lyudmila Orlova, director general of agricultural engineering company Eurotechnika, be elected members of the forum's Russian Steering Committee.
In conclusion, they decided to hold a joint meeting of the steering committees of the Russian-German Petersburg Dialogue Forum in January 2011 in Russia.
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The Petersburg Dialogue was established in 2001 at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to hold discussions of important social issues and the agenda of Russian-German relations.
The forum's main goal is to promote mutual understanding between Russia and Germany and to boost bilateral cooperation in all fields.
The Petersburg Dialogue forums are attended by Russian and German public leaders and young people. They are convened annually under the auspices of the Russian president and the German chancellor.
The Steering Committee is the managing body responsible for preparing and holding the forum meetings and choosing topics for discussion.
First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov chairs the Russian Steering Committee and Lothar de Maiziere chairs the German Steering Committee.