More than 200 cities from all over the world have been invited to take part in the BRICS International Municipal Forum, scheduled for August in Moscow, authorities in the Russian capital have said.

Over 5,000 participants from 126 countries and 89 Russian jurisdictions are expected to attend the event on August 27-78, with some 700 speakers at various panels and receptions, the organizers said at a press conference.

“We count on the participation of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation and our foreign partners, while we are sending out mailings to more than 200 cities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America,” Sergey Cheremin, head of Moscow’s department of foreign trade and international relations, told TASS.

The forum will be held at the Ekspocentr convention hall near the Krasnaya Presnya park in Moscow, Cheremin said.

According to Cheremin, the program will include discussions about municipal infrastructure, sustainability of urban development, and effective resource management. Special attention will be paid to education, healthcare, culture, tourism and sports.

“Moscow can offer participants of all events its invaluable experience in infrastructure development, which has turned Moscow into one of the most developed cities in the world,” Cheremin said. “We will definitely touch upon issues of innovation, attracting talented specialists and maintaining the competitiveness of megacities,” he added.

Chairman of the Moscow City Duma, Alexey Shaposhnikov, announced plans to sign a joint declaration with BRICS capitals and major cities.

A significant number of major corporations have confirmed their participation in the upcoming forum, with both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) meetings in the works, said Mikhail Sverdlov, head of the BRICS+ Business Communications Foundation.

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