VEF Annual Brochure Review 2018

The founding of the Vienna Economic Forum in April 2004 was a timely response to the aspirations of the countries of the whole Southeast Europe region to return to their European identity! Thinking back, one above all remembers the enthusiasm, the joy and the willingness, with combined forces, to transform our region into a European region!

If you compare the region and the economic conditions 15 years ago and today, you can identify a generally positive development: in the infrastructure, in the energy sector, in banking and transport, in production, in the performance field, in all segments of the everyday living! In all these years, the economic development contributed to the change in many of the VEF countries.

One thing has remained unchanged – the goal of Vienna Economic Forum: All the states of the region remain in the focus of the economic interest of the members of Vienna Economic Forum and this interest is characterized by the long-term motivation to participate in the economic revitalization and development of the entire region.

We are proud, to bring onboard as VEF members renowned Austrian, European and international companies with a serious interest in the economic development of the countries of the region. And in this regard, we will continue with our efforts! VEF will continue to set concrete and pragmatic goals. We can assure you all!

We are pleased to report that VEF succeeded in 2018, with the high-ranking attendance and pragmatically oriented Vienna Economic Forum Sofia Talks 2018 in May and the 15th Vienna Economic Forum – Vienna Future Dialoque 2018 in November, both held under the Motto “Economy meets Politics”, to build a bridge between the Bulgarian and the Austrian EU Presidencies, as an official part of the two governmental programs.

The positive economic development is a result of cooperation between economy and politics and we want to continue to use the synergies of this cooperation on an even better scale and more actively. An example of such synergy is the initiative to establish a Digital ICT School (Information, Communication, Technology) for the young people of our region, with which the Vienna Economic Forum continues to focus on the good economic development of the member states.

For the good cooperation, for the trust and the constant support, for your participation in reaching new horizons – a big THANK YOU to all of you!

DI Dr. Günther Rabensteiner                                                              Amb. Dr. Elena Kirtcheva
President                                                                                                        Secretary General