Annual General Assembly of Vienna Economic Forum on 14. March 2022
The Annual General Assembly of Vienna Economic Forum (VEF) in 2022 took place on 14. March in the premises of the EVN Headquarters in Maria Enzersdorf and was hosted by Mag. Stefan Szyszkowitz, VEF Board Member, Spokesman of the Executive Board of EVN AG.
Very emotionally affected and with clearly noticeable dismay, the VEF Secretary General was able to briefly report on some of the most important activities of Vienna Economic Forum in the past difficult but successful year 2021 for VEF. As per the annual plan for 2022, she announced the forthcoming Vienna Economic Talks – Istanbul Meeting which are to take place on 16.-17. May in the VEF Member country Turkey. This would serve as a very good opportunity for fruitful exchange between high-ranking representatives of politics and economy as well as for driving economic cooperation between companies from Austria and from the countries of the Southeastern Europe region.
With gratitude, Ambassador Dr. Elena Kirtcheva addressed all those present, who continue to support Vienna Economic Forum, even under the challenging conditions of our time, and rely on its growing networking potential.
VEF President DI Peter Umundum informed about the admission of new VEF members at the Board meeting on 21 February 2022 as follows:
As Members – Cooperation Partners:
– Vienna Insurance Group (VIG)
– Municipal Guarantee Fund of Sofia Municipality
– KI-Kelag International GmbH
As Members – Legal entities:
– Frequentis AG
– Aryxe Group Holding OÜ
– University for National and Word Economy Sofia
– OMEKS, d.o.o., Slovenia, Smart Building and Construction Company
The new VEF Members were unanimously welcomed by the General Assembly.
Furthermore, the General Assembly unanimously made the following decisions:
– Mag. Peter Höfinger, Member of the Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) board, was elected as a Board member and Vice-President of Vienna Economic Forum
– Dr. Georg Bucher, Board member, Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG, was elected Board member of Vienna Economic Forum
– Dr. Nikolay Tsenkov, Manager of the Municipal Guarantee Fund of Sofia Municipality, was elected Board member of Vienna Economic Forum
– Dr. Nina Drakić, President, Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, has been co-opted as a Board member of Vienna Economic Forum
The following were appointed as Members of the Patrons Committee of Vienna Economic Forum:
– H.E. Mr. Kiril Petkov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria
– H.E. Ms. Natalia Gavrilița, Prime Minister of Moldova
– H.E. Mr. Dimitar Kovačevski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia
– H.E. Mr. Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, Prime Minister of Romania
– H.E. Mr. Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo
Honorary membership in the Honorary Committee of Vienna Economic Forum was awarded to the following:
– KR Prof. Mag. Dr. Gertrud Tauchhammer, Honorary Consul from Cameroon and Honorary Consul General from Tunisia, Publisher of Society Magazin, VEF- Media Partner
– H.E. Dr. Meglena Plugtschieva, extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria in Montenegro
– Ambassador Dr. Valentin Inzko, Austrian Diplomat, former High UN Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
The following were appointed as Members of the Ambassadors Committee of Vienna Economic Forum:
– H.E. Mr. Osvit Rosoklija, extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of North Macedonia to the Republic of Austria
– H.E. Dr.h.c. Emilian Horatiu Hurezeanu, extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Austria
– H.E. Mr. Alexander Gerzina, extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of Slovenia to the Republic of Austria
– H.E. Dr. Vasyl Khymynets, extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Austria
During several speeches, thoughts were exchanged about the challenging times and above all about the need for action in view of the tragic war in Ukraine. There was consensus on the need for more intensive idea generation for VEF repositioning and identification of new approaches that should highlight the important role of the Vienna Economic Forum in the region. Above all, the internationally active business community, which is strongly represented in VEF, should expand its potential for influence and thus make a significant contribution to peace and prosperity in the region of Southeast Europe. The active participation of the VEF members in the upcoming Istanbul Meeting would be a very good starting point for this.
The Vienna Economic Forum team would like to thank all members for their constant support and for the trust they have always shown. These inspire us to develop and realize further visions in order to be there for all VEF members, partners and friends, as we have been in all the years up to now!
