SOFIA – Regional cooperation within the framework of European integration, the Western Balkans sub-region: reality and expectations – Who takes responsibility and the role of investments for growth and stability will be the themes of the conference. “Sofia talks 2018”debate organized by the Vienna Economic Forum, which will be held on May 18 in Sofia.
The motto of this official side event of the 2018 EU-Western Balkans Summit is “Politics meets economics» and it will aim to facilitate a direct exchange between the democratically elected leaders of the Western Balkans and high-level representatives of the regional and international economy.
Some of the key speakers at the event will be Liliana PavlovaMinister of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2018, Ekaterina ZaharievaDeputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Boyko BorissovPrime Minister of Bulgaria, Edi RamaPrime Minister of Albania, Denis ZvizdivsPresident of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ramush HaradinajPrime Minister of Kosovo, Zoran ZaevPrime Minister of Macedonia, Ofško MarkovivsPrime Minister of Montenegro, Ana BrnabivsPrime Minister of Serbia, Alexander PlaterCEO/CTO Telekom Austria, A1 Group
And Peter Umundummember of the board of directors of Österreichische Post AG.
It is stated that they will discuss more intense and pragmatic regional economic cooperation and, with the support of regional leaders, seek solutions in different sectors of the regional economy.
On the economic side, interests in the development of different regional economic sectors will be demonstrated by Vienna Economic Forum board members from the region, Europe and beyond.
“With the Sofia 2018 talks, the Vienna Economic Forum wants to build a bridge between the Bulgarian EU Presidency and the next Austrian EU Presidency in the second half of the year,” it says.
Vienna Economic Forum (VEF) was established in April 2004 in Vienna at the Bulgarian initiative with the aim of promoting regional economic cooperation between member countries in the region from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. During its 14 years of existence, the Vienna Economic Forum has continued to strengthen its role both in the South East European region and in other EU and non-EU countries. In recognition of all the years of successful activities in the region, the Vienna Economic Forum has received the status of an international non-governmental organization, special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is registered with Transparency register of the European Parliament and the European Commission.
