With the aim of enhancing mutual relations and strengthening cooperation between Austria, Southeastern European countries and Arab countries, the Austro-Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC), represented by its Secretary-General Eng. Mouddar Khouja, and the Vienna Economic Forum (VEF), represented by its Secretary-General H.E. Ambassador Dr. Elena Kirtcheva, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 25 January 2023.
The MoU ceremony was honoured by the presence of Dr. Ernst Huber, Member of AACC Board of Directors and Member of the VEF Honorary Committee. Dr. Snezana Kearns, Senior Project Manager, Ms. Irena Pal (BBA), Project & Office Manager, and Mag. Niko Petković, Project Manager additionally attended the ceremony from VEF’s side, whereas Mag. Leila Kaplan, Office Director and Chief of Staff attended from AACC’s side.
The signing of this MoU was the result of deliberations that took place during a courtesy visit paid by Secretary-General Khouja to Secretary-General Kirtcheva earlier this month. H.E. Ambassador Dr. Kirtcheva has already met with a number of Arab ambassadors in Vienna, in an attempt to further consolidate coordination and cooperation with the Arab region, an area in which SG Khouja reiterated his readiness to support by all means.
This bilateral agreement between AACC and VEF demonstrates the will of both parties as strategic partners to establish cooperation and good relations between both institutions, by means of mutual support of each other’s initiatives and activities, organising joint events and sharing useful information on the economic situation and developments aimed at supporting the goals of both institutions.
In this context, Ambassador Kirtcheva announced the upcoming “Vienna Economic Talks- Prishtina Meeting 2023”, scheduled to take place on 7-8 May 2023 in Prishtina, Kosovo and invited SG Khouja and AACC members to attend. SG Khouja extended an invitation to Ambassador Dr. Kirtcheva and VEF members to take part in the 12th edition of the “Annual Investment Meeting (AIM)” and the “Entrepreneurs Investment Summit: Investing in Arab and African Entrepreneurs”, which will be held under the support of the Union of Arab Chambers (UAC) from 8 -10 May 2023 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Pursuant to the agreement on widely publishing information and news pertaining to each other’s activities, each of the institutions will reciprocally share information about the above-mentioned meetings and vigorously promote the other’s events within its extensive network.
