HSE University in Perm Hosts Discussion on Foreign Trade amid Economic Transformation
On October 14, the forum “FEA Amid Transformation” took place at the Perm campus of HSE University. It was organized by JSC Expobank, the Perm branch of Delovaya Rossiya, and the Center for Business Education of HSE Perm. The event gathered representatives of the authorities, business, and experts in foreign economic activity. Dmitry Kashin, Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Finance and Junior Research Fellow at the International Laboratory of Intangible-Driven Economy, spoke at the forum.
He discussed how the export of services is changing in Russian regions amid economic transformation. Dmitry Viktorovich explained the factors influencing the volume and structure of exports, as well as the role of intellectual capital in this process. Using examples from an applied study conducted by the campus, he showed why some regions managed to maintain services exports during the crisis years of 2020 and 2022, while others did not. According to him, in only seven out of 82 regions is export based on knowledge-intensive services — IT, consulting, engineering, and licenses. This means that support measures focused on merchandise exports are not suitable for the majority of regions.
Other speakers at the forum included Ilya Shaklein, Director of the International Settlements Department at JSC Expobank; Renat Manyapov, Head of the Representative Office of JSC Russian Export Center; and Artem Stepanov, Director of the East Region at JSC Expobank. Renat Manyapov spoke about state support and financing for exporters. Ilya Shaklein presented the current situation in payment infrastructure and international settlements. Artem Stepanov shared experience in organizing imports and exports — from logistics to financial settlements.
Forum participants discussed real cases with experts from HSE University – Perm, JSC Expobank, and JSC Russian Export Center. They learned about new trends in exports, tested their solutions in practice, and found out which tools are effective under current conditions.
Dmitry Kashin
Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Finance
Foreign economic activity today is not only about logistics and settlements, but also a question of what and where we sell. At HSE University – Perm, we are studying the export of services by Russian regions as part of the "International Academic Cooperation" project of HSE University jointly with the Iran University of Science and Technology. The project is ongoing, but we have already seen significant potential in knowledge-intensive services exports — that is, services in IT, engineering, and business services. We found that regions with a high intellectual capital index are resilient to external shocks. Perm Krai is among such regions. In terms of the share of knowledge-intensive services, it ranks in the top five in the country, although there is still growth potential in overall export volume.
It was important to hear from colleagues from the Russian Export Center and Expobank: our research shows the overall picture and dynamics of exports, while practitioners described how it looks in specific deals. I thank the organizers — JSC Expobank and the Perm branch of Delovaya Rossiya — and everyone who attended the event. We are glad that the forum took place within the walls of HSE in Perm and are ready to continue this dialogue with business in future joint events.
The study was conducted as part of the project "Internationalization of Companies from Developing Countries: The Role of Intellectual Resources in Response to Exogenous Shocks", which is being carried out as part of the "International Academic Cooperation" competition at the Higher School of Economics.
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