Businessmen and women from all over the United States and Eastern Europe journeyed to Tucson this weekend for the annual business forum held by the UA Department of Russian and Slavic Studies.

The forum was organized to provide information to UA students and businesspeople who are interested in business affairs in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, said Roza Simkhovich, a Russian and Slavic studies senior lecturer and forum coordinator.

The Commonwealth of Independent States is an alliance of 12 of the 15 former republics of the Soviet Union, including Georgia, Armenia and Belarus.

Simkhovich, who played a key role over the past 10 years in organizing the forum, said that the UA's forum is unlike any other in the country.

"We are gaining more and more prestige," said Simkhovich who added that presenters at the forum are some of the most experienced and knowledgeable in their respective fields.

Zhanna Tokarbekova, a student of environmental science and policy at Northern Arizona University, said that she wants to work in the business industry and will use much of what she learned from the forum next year when she returns to her native country of Kazakhstan.

Tokarbekova said there is no equivalent to the UA's business forum at any other university.

"I was impressed by the level of organization," Tokarbekova said.

A similar but less comprehensive business forum is held annually at Harvard University.

International trade and commerce experts from the U.S. government and people with experience conducting business in the CIS and Eastern Europe attended the forum.

Representatives from several different Eastern European countries, including Estonia, Hungary and Belarus, discussed international trade and the state of the economy in their respective nations.

Simkhovich said that many presenters talked about groundbreaking advancements in Eastern European business as well as their experiences trying to create a more peaceful environment in the former Soviet Union.

"They have such interesting stories to tell," Simkhovich said. "More work of this kind betters the world."

Most of the UA students who attended were majoring either in Russian or Slavic language or in business, said undeclared sophomore and secretary of the UA Russian club Matthew Galanty.

Simkhovich said that the forum lets students see the many ways that language or business degrees might be used in the European business world.

Jonathan Rigg, treasurer of the UA Russian club and Russian graduate student, said that many students don't take advantage of the information presented at the forum.

"The turnout from UA is kind of small," Rigg said.

About 30 UA students registered for the conference. A total of 90 people attended the conference.

Galanty noted that those who do come to the forum often gain a great deal of information applicable to future job ventures.

"This is one of the greatest resources we have," Galanty said.