What will you learn

This event will be an exploratory journey about the capacities that the economies and businesses of Western Balkans and Turkey need to reposition themselves on the global economic map, turning the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic into an opportunity for growth.

Namely, the global pandemic has triggered an almost “shut down” state of global production. Starting from China which had to close factories first, the interruption of production and transport of various products, semi-products and raw materials slowed down and even stopped around the globe in different periods in 2020. As a result, many international companies were challenged with securing continuity of supply, while at the same time the consumer demand and the nature of sales shifted practically overnight. Western Balkans economies and Turkey are an interesting area to be observed in this discussion, being geographically close to the European market where they send around 70% of their export. They also have skilled human capital, yet face slow overall growth, political instabilities and brain drain. For these countries the crisis can be a potential opportunity to join the “regionalization” of the value chains as a method many companies started to practice instead of the “global”. This would increase the overall growth and value of the GDP, push them into producing more sophisticated products and services (ICT, electronics, fabrics, furniture, etc.) and getting integrated into the European common market.

The discussion topics at this forum would include:

• Which branches of the economy can lead our more complex and game-changing growth?
• How could structural reforms support them?
• How do we invest more into the regional Economic Area of Western Balkans?
• What kind of culture shift do we need among the participants in the economy?
• How can we use the knowledge, capacities, and know-how to assert our economies?
• How do we invest in local innovations?
• How do we digitalize this growth and make it as green as possible?
• How our labor markets can be a supportive environment for such transitions?

The dialogue will note the human capacities needed for leading such transformations, especially on the side of the public sector. It will map the possible ways for building such capacities and potential forms of financing such economic shifts.

Who should attend

At this event we will invite Ministers of Finance, Economy and EU Integration; Economic Reform Program and National IPA Coordinators from the countries under the EU 2014-2020 Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA); CEF Coordinators and Advisory Board members; representatives of other multilateral and bilateral partner organizations that share our commitment to the region’s reform priorities.

Practical information

Flights, transfers and accommodation in Slovenia, and meals during the event will be funded for up to 5 officials per country from countries under the EU 2014-2020 Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA). Applications of additional self-funded candidates from the South East Europe region (and beyond) will be considered, as far as space permits.

Faculty

The event will be delivered under the guidance of:

• Economists from the SEE
• Ministers from SEE
• Business people from SEE
• Youth organizations/Innovation labs/Business Incubators from SEE

Partners

This event is delivered as part of the EU funded multi-country project “Strengthening Line Ministries’ Capacities to Assess Fiscal Implications of Structural Reforms” implemented by the Center of Excellence in Finance.