For the 10th time, Amb Dr Elena Kirtcheva, Secretary General of Vienna Economic Forum and Dr Erhard Busek, President of Vienna Economic Forum, had the pleasure to welcome 550 participants from 34 countries and 19 international organisations from the region of the Vienna Economic Forum and beyond, to the Palais Niederösterreich to not only hold the 10th Vienna Economic Forum but also to celebrate its first decade of existence.
The motto of the 10th Jubilee Vienna Economic Forum is “Visions and Visionaries – The Economy is the Motor” and the topics were:
• Visions are on demand! The Economy is the Motor!
• The Visions in the Economy: The Motor of Development.
• Make Visions Real. Visionaries from Different Economic Sectors.
• Regional Cooperation – Vision for the Danube
• Visions and Responsibility for the Future Development of the Economy. Ask the Visionaries
Mr Werner Anzengruber, CEO of Verbund AG, Member of Vienna Economic Forum and Dr Herbert Stepic, Senior Advisor to the Board at Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Member of the Board of Vienna Economic Forum were after their Jubilee speeches also awarded. Mr Werner Anzengruber and the Verbund AG were awarded Partner of the Year 2013. Dr Herbert Stepic and the Raiffeisen Bank International AG were awarded Partner of the Decade 2004-2013.
This was followed by the ceremony for handing over the decoration for the merit of successful 10-years development of Vienna Economic Forum was awarded to our founding members, partners, members and strategic partners of Vienna Economic Forum, who contributed to the development and growth of Vienna Economic Forum and thus made it an important institution for the region Southeast Europe, which in 2011 has received the status INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION from the Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, and since July 2012 the Special consultative status at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.
On the second day, Dr Erhard Busek and Amb Dr Elena Kirtcheva were pleased to host four interesting plenary sessions with high-ranking speakers and decision makers from the region of Vienna Economic Forum and beyond.
Federal President of the Republic of Austria H.E. Dr. Heinz Fischer and H.E. Dr. Erwin Pröll, Governor of Lower Austria, sent special video messages. The numerous participants were able to profit from the expertise of our visionaries who held speeches: H.E. Abdalla Salem El-Badri, Secretary General of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mr. Ilker Ayci, President of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), Co-Organizer des 10th Jubilee Vienna Economic Forum.
The members of the board of Vienna Economic Forum spoke of their visions for the region: Mag. Heinz Messinger, Managing Director, AME International GmbH, Mag. Stefan Szyszkowitz, EVN AG, Mag. Hermann Anderl, Managing Director, Canon CEE, Mark Arnold, CEO Sberbank Europe AG, Dr. Karsten Benz, CCO Austrian Airlines AG, Dr. Ognian Donev, CEO, Sopharma AD, Dkfm. Karl Fink, CEO, Wiener Städtische Versicherungen, Emmanuel Forest, CEO, BOUYGUES Europe, Christo Iliev, Executive Chairman, AG Capital AD, Dr. Gabriel Lansky, Partner, Lansky, Ganzger + partner, Dr. Willibald Plesser, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, DI Dr. Günther Rabensteiner, Member of the board, Verbund AG, Mag. Alois Steinbichler, CEO, Kommunalkredit Austria, Dr. Herbert Stepic, Senior Advisor to the Board, Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Dr. Karl Stoss, CEO, Casinos Austria und der Österreichischen Lotterien GmbH, DI Peter Umundum, Member of the board, Österreichische Post AG.
The esteemed speakers of the 10th Jubilee Vienna Economic Forum were: Amb. Alain Brian Bergant, Secretary General, Bled Strategic Forum, Strategic Partner of Vienna Economic Forum, Slovenia, Dr. René Siegl, CEO, Austrian Business Agency, Prof. Dr. Danica Purg, President, IEDC-Bled School of Management, Slowenia, Mr. Goran Svilanovic, Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council Secretariat, Sarajevo, Dr. Reinhard Zuba, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Telekom Austria Group, Member of Vienna Economic Forum, Mag. Richard Kühnel, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Austria, Mr. Henri Thome, CEO, ESLNetwork Brussels, Member of Vienna Economic Forum, Dr. Mario Holzner, Deputy Director, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, Suleyman Onatca, Chairman, TURKONFED, Turkey, Strategic Partner of Vienna Economic Forum, Dr. Milan Parivodic, Founder and Chairman, Foreign Investors Services (FORINVEST), Serbia, Strategic Partner of Vienna Economic Forum, Rasa Ristivojevic, Vice President of the Chamber of Economy and Industry of Serbia, Amb. Victor Jackovich, Business Advisory Council for Southeast Europe and Eurasia (BACSEE), Strategic Partner of Vienna Economic Forum, Mag. Andreas Schieder, State Secretary of Finance of the Federal Republic of Austria.
The high-ranking participants, H.E. Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania and Patron of the Vienna Economic Forum, and H.E. Daniela Bobeva-Filipova, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Development of Bulgaria delivered speeches and discussed the Vision Europe and Southeast Europe, and ideas and solutions for further economic development and cooperation in the region. Ms Rasa Noreikiene, Vice Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania gave a greeting speech on behalf of the EU Presidency. On this occasion the Vienna Economic Forum is also pleased to welcome the Republic of Lithuania as a new member country to the Vienna Economic Forum.
The Vienna Economic Forum thanks its strategic partners of Vienna Economic Forum and international originations from various countries:
• Biopolitics International Organisation (B.I.O.), Athens, Greece
• Bled Strategic Forum, Slovenia
• Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Sofia, Bulgaria
• Business Advisory Council for Southeast Europe (BACSEE), Thessaloniki, Greece
• Central European Initiative – CEI, Trieste, Italy
• DEIK (Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey), Istanbul, Turkey
• EastEuroCo Executive Search Group, Budapest, Hungary
• European Center for Environmental Economy (ECEE), Sofia, Bulgaria
• Hayek Insitut, Vienna, Austria
• International Business and Diplomatic Exchange (IBDE), London, UK
• Institut für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa (IDM), Vienna, Austria
• Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), Ankara, Turkey
• Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Group, Istanbul, Turkey
• Organisation für Internationale Wirtschaftsbeziehungen (OiER), Vienna, Austria
• Österreichischer Gewerbeverein, Vienna, Austria
• Representation of the European Commission in Austria
• The Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK), Istanbul, Turkey
• Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TURKONFED), Istanbul, Turkey
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Vienna Economic Forum thanks all cooperation partners, members and partners of Vienna Economic Forum for the continuous support and also for the support of the 10th Jubilee Vienna Economic Forum, special thanks go to: Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) Co-Organizer of the 10th Jubilee Vienna Economic Forum, Austrian Airlines AG, Federal Ministry for Family, Economy and Youth, Canon CEE GmbH, DenizBank AG, ecoplus. The Business Agency of Lower Austria, Representation of the European Commission in Austria, ESL & Network European Affais, FIAMM Industrial Batteries, Embassy of Kosovo in Austria, Österreichische Post AG, Risk Experts Risiko Engineering GmbH und Sopharma AD
The Team of Vienna Economic Forum is please to announce the 11th Vienna Economic Forum on 23-24 November 2014 in Palais Niederösterreich in Vienna.
