Programme of events

19 MAY 

Building Kazakhstan’s Green Growth Pathway

Thursday 19 May 10:00 - 12:00
CSO Meeting Room, Level 2, Palace of Independence

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is hosting an event for the launching of the Kazakhstan National Green Growth Plan, which incorporates the EBRD’s initiatives to support the Kazakhstan government’s efforts toward continued economic growth while enhancing environmental sustainability.

The session will include an introduction by Minister of Strategy and Finance of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Minister Yoon Jeung-Hyun.

Sustainability Report Launch and Award Ceremony

Thursday 19 May 12:30 – 14:30
Ballroom 4, Level 1, Palace of Independence

Despite the global financial crisis, sustainability still makes good business sense – an idea which is at the core of this year’s Sustainability Report. It highlights the continued progress the Bank and its clients have made in protecting the environment and responding to climate change even in challenging economic times. A discussion will be followed by an award ceremony to recognise the exemplary achievements and progress made by some Bank clients in addressing sustainability in their business and investment activities.

The session will include an introduction by EBRD Vice President for Environment, Procurement and Administration, Jan Fischer, a short address by a guest speaker and a luncheon reception.

The Sustainability Report Launch and Awards Ceremony will be co-hosted by Kegoc JSC

Kazakhstan Investment Forum

Thursday 19 May 14:00 - 16:50
Level 1, Palace of Independence

The Government of Kazakhstan is pleased to invite you to the Investment Forum to be organised in association with the EBRD 2011 Annual Meeting and Business Forum.

The Forum will be opened by HE Karim Massimov Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan / HE Asset Orentaevich Isekeshev Deputy
Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Thomas Mirow, President of the EBRD.

The event is set to attract the participation of representatives of international corporations, prospective investors, government and local authorities for a series of discussions and networking opportunities.

Check the Kazakhstan Investment Forum programme for more detailed information.

Public Procurement Policy-Making: Efficiency and Transparency

Thursday 19 May 14:30 - 17:30
Presidents Hall, Level 1, Palace of Independence

A roundtable on public procurement policy in transition countries with an aim to share and discuss the main findings of the
recently completed assessment of public procurement law and practice in the EBRD region and to launch a new
technical cooperation initiative in the field of public procurement, developed by the EBRD together with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

1991-2011: Voices from the New Generation

Thursday 19 May 16:00 - 17:30
Ballroom 4, Level 1, Palace of Independence

At a special discussion event, young writers from Central Asia, Russia and Ukraine who came of age along with their newly independent countries will discuss social and political change in the post-Soviet era.

This event is co-hosted by Unicredit

 

20 - 21 MAY

DISCUSSION PANELS 

Securing the Recovery:  Economic Reform after the Crisis

Friday 20 May 9:00 - 10:30
Ballroom 2, Level 1, Palace of Independence

The global financial crisis has had very different impacts in countries in emerging Europe and Central Asia compared to other countries in Asia and advanced Europe. What economic weaknesses did the impact of the crisis reveal? What are the policy implications for the post-crisis period? How has the crisis affected policy makers' views on economic reform?

Opening remarks: Jonathan Charles, Director of Communications, EBRD

Moderator

• Erik Berglof, Chief Economist, EBRD

Panellists

• Marek Belka, Governor, National Bank of Poland
• HE Karim Massimov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
• Sergey Storchak, Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation
• Zhang Tao, Director General of International Department, People's Bank of China

Fostering Entrepreneurship: Financing for the Future

Friday 20 May 10:45 - 12:15
Ceremonial Room, Level 1, Palace of Independence

What drives entrepreneurship? What makes entrepreneurs succeed? What aspects of the business environment foster entrepreneurship? What is the role of credit lines and private equity? How can a viable small and medium size enterprise sector be nurtured? Successful entrepreneurs who have thrived under differing economic rules and frameworks meet to discuss.

Moderator

• Laurie Spengler, President and CEO, Shorebank International

Panellists

• Thomas Engelhardt, Chairman of the Management Board, AccessHolding Microfinance AG
• Ganhuyag Hutagt, Vice Minister of Finance,  Mongolia
• Aleksandar Kremenovic, President of the Management Board, Mikrofin
• Kairat Mazhibayev, Chairman, Resmi Group
• Alberto Verme, CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Citigroup

Women in Business: Meeting the Challenge

Friday 20 May 11:45 - 13:45
Ballroom 4, Level 1, Palace of Independence
 

Will ‘East meet West’ when looking at the challenges facing women in business from Asia to Central Asia to the West? The panel discussion will address the challenges facing women in business in these regions and how female entrepreneurs, business women and companies are addressing these challenges. An award ceremony will honour some outstanding achievements.

The "Women in Business" discussion and award ceremony are co-hosted by Erste Group.  

Moderator: 

• Tanya Beckett, Presenter, BBC

Panellists:

• Cherie Blair, Founder,  Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
• Dominic Bruynseels, CEO, Banca Comerciala Romana
• Raushan Sarsembayeva, President,  Association of Business Women of Kazakhstan
• Lucille Yu, President and CEO, Simula Technology Inc 

The Food Security Challenge: Releasing the Potential of Agriculture

Friday 20 May 15:15 - 16:45
Ceremonial Room, Level 1, Palace of Independence

Recent price hikes have put food security back on the international agenda. The solution lies in increased market transparency and more predictable and coordinated government policies. The discussion will focus on improving supply chains, developing supportive financial instruments, and improving international policy coordination.

Moderator

• Johan Swinnen, Professor of Development Economics, Director of LICOS Center for Institutions and Economic Performance, University of Leuven; former Lead Economist at the World Bank and EC Economic Advisor

Panellist

• Alexander Berkovskiy, Head of Business Development and Marketing for Crop Protection, Syngenta, Russia
• Igor Ermolenko, CEO, JSC Holding Kazexportastyk, Kazakhstan
• Andre Kuusvek, Head of EBRD office, Ukraine
• Asylzhan Mamytbekov, Minister of Agriculture, Kazakhstan
• Dina Umali-Deininger, Sector Manager, European and Central Asia Region, World Bank 

Capital Markets and the Local Currency Initiative

Welcome Coffee

Friday 20 May 16:00-16:15 
Ballroom 2, Level 1, Palace of Independence

Discussion Panel

Friday 20 May 16:15 - 18:15
Ballroom 2, Level 1, Palace of Independence

Policy-makers and actors on the national and international economic stage discuss the status of local currency lending and the development of local capital markets, and debate the next steps on their policy agendas.

Moderator

• Manfred Schepers, Vice President and CFO, EBRD

Panellists

• Mark Allen, Senior Regional Representative , Central and Eastern Europe, European Department, International Monetary Fund
• Gerardo Corrochano, Sector Director, Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank
• Julia Kiraly, Deputy Governor, National Bank of Hungary 
• Grigory Marchenko, Governor, National Bank of Kazakhstan
• Simen Munter, CEO, HSBC Bank, Kazakhstan
• Otar Nadaraia, Vice-President, National Bank of Georgia 

Judicial Capacity: The Next Big Chapter in Legal Transition?

Saturday 21 May 10:30 - 12:00
Ceremonial Room, Level 1, Palace of Independence

What are the priorities for judicial capacity building in commercial law in the EBRD region? What are the current key reform strategies to strengthen court performance? How can they be improved and more accurately evaluated? How can regional approaches to judicial capacity building be made more effective?

These and other issues will be at the heart of a discussion focusing on current challenges facing judiciaries in transition countries when dealing with commercial law matters and on the efforts of governments, courts, and international organisations to improve court effectiveness. 

Moderator

• William Loris, Former Director General, International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), now Director of LL.M. programme on Rule of Law and Development at Loyola University (Rome, Italy)

Panellists

• Pim Albers, International Rule of Law expert and advisory member of the International Consortium for Court Excellence
• Alan Colman, Counsel (Judicial Capacity), EBRD Legal Transition Programme
• Aibek Davletov, Former First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, presently a consultant to the EBRD Commercial Law Judicial Capacity Building Project in the Kyrgyz Republic
• Gabriel Lansky, Attorney-at-Law and Senior Partner of Lansky, Ganzger and partner (LGP). Advisor to the governments and legal representative of several states of the Former Soviet Union (Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan), Central-Eastern Europe as well the Republic of Austria.

Striking the Right Balance: The State and the Private Sector

Saturday 21 May 11:00 - 12:30
Blue Room, Level 1, Palace of Independence 

Economic development models in East and West have converged. There is agreement that development needs to be private sector-led. There is also agreement that the state has a strong role to play. But what role exactly? Should the state and private sector be substitutes or complements in economic development? What does the state need to do to allow the private sector to grow for the benefit of all?

Moderator

• Erik Berglof, Chief Economist, EBRD

Panellists

• Sergei Guriev, Rector, New Economic School, Moscow
• Kayrat Kelimbetov, Minister of Trade and Economic Development, Kazakhstan
• Sergei Vasiliev, Deputy Chairman and Board Member, Vneshekonombank
• Bernard Yeung, Dean and Stephen Riady Distinguished Professor, National University of Singapore

Weaving the Magic Carpet: How to Make Climate Finance Flow in the Region

Saturday 21 May 14:30 - 16:00
Ceremonial Room, Level 1, Palace of Independence

Combining disparate streams of climate finance and project finance to achieve real change on the ground, preparing the region for a low-carbon future, is a challenging but often overlooked aspect of the post-Copenhagen and post-Cancun debate. Integrating climate finance to stimulate investments from the private sector is seen as the best way to achieve a low-carbon future. This discussion will bring together different perspectives on the matter, to discuss how to achieve this.

Moderator  

• Tae-yong Jung,  Deputy Executive Director, Global Green Growth Institute

Panellists

• Ruslan Bultrikov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Environmental Regulation and Control of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Kazakhstan
• Xing’an GE, Deputy Director, ETS Research Department, China Beijing Environmental Exchange (CBEEX)
• Jurgen Keinhorst, Head of Division, Cooperation with Central and Eastern European Countries and New Independent States, Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU), Germany
• Aygen Yayikoglu, Founder and Managing Partner, Crescent Fund

Jacques de Larosière Lecture

Saturday 21 May 12:30 - 13:15
Ballroom 2, Level 1, Palace of Independence

The Jacques de Larosière Lecture, to be given by Professor Aleksander Kwasniewski, former President of Poland.

COUNTRY EVENTS 

Each of our countries of operations will have the opportunity to present and discuss investment opportunities. Representatives from national governments, as well as experts from the business and financial communities, will give an update on the current business climate in their countries. 

The Programme will be open and interactive and will include country presentations, country update and networking sessions and informal bilateral meetings.  

Country Events 

OTHER EVENTS 

UNICREDIT Breakfast Presentation

Saturday 21 May 07:30 – 08:30
Blue Room, Level 1, Palace of Independence

When and how will CEE lending activities fully recover?

In the aftermath of the global crisis the economic recovery in Central and Eastern Europe is consolidating: The booming years for CEE seem now to be far, but the region is already growing at significant higher rates than Eurozone. Nevertheless the banking business, which in the past was to a large extent externally financed, has to be reshaped. The banking model in the post-crisis environment, characterized by a higher cost of liquidity and a different risk environment, is adapting to the new context. Lending strategies are becoming more diversified and more supportive for long-term economic growth, meaning less consumer credit lending, at least in the ongoing phase of recovery, and higher focus on corporate lending particularly toward tradable sectors.

The discussion will exploit questions such as: How to achieve a broader based economic recovery? Which are the key sectors for growth in the post-crisis environment and what role banks should play? UniCredit, which has the leading network in CEE and is the largest foreign bank in Kazakhstan, will bring its expertise to the table.

Moderator

• Aurelio Maccario, Head of Strategic Planning, UniCredit

Panellists

• Gianfranco Bisagni - Head of CEE CIB, UniCredit 
• Romeo Collina – CEO JSC ATFBank, Member of UniCredit 
• Riccardo Puliti - Head of Energy and Natural Resources, EBRD               
• Entrepreneurs active in the CEE region (tbc)

Civil Society Programme

Saturday 21 May 9:00 - 11:00
CSO Room, Level 2, Palace of Independence

Life in Transition: civic engagement, governance, gender

Although transition has brought new economic possibilities and enhanced liberties for the majority of individuals in the EBRD region, the benefits arising from economic growth and political change have not been equally shared among the population. Academics and civil society practitioners from the region, together with EBRD representatives, have been invited to discuss and evaluate the impact of transition on people’s lives.

Informed by the results of the latest EBRD Life in Transition Survey, the panellists will examine how the transition has affected different aspects of society in various countries throughout Central Asia and Europe. The panellists will share their perspective on changes in the level of civic engagement and the role of civil society in building market economies, developing democratic policies, promoting good governance, transparency and accountability and advancing social policies. The panellists will also address the key priorities, aspirations, values, and hopes for the future of individuals in the region, as outlined by the findings of the Life in Transition Survey as well as the panellists' own experiences working and researching in the countries. They will also discuss the effect that the transition to market economies and changing political systems have produced thus far on economic opportunities available to society at large, and particularly their effect on women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship.

Moderator

• Alan Rousso, Corporate Director, Stakeholder Relations Department, EBRD

Panellists

• Franklin Steves, Political Counsellor, EBRD
• Anna Andreenkova, Deputy Director, Institute for Comparative Social Research (CESSI), Russia
• Adylbeck Sharshenbaev, Chairman, Transparency International, Kyrgyz Republic
• Marta Turk, President, Association of Slovenia Entrepreneurs, Slovenia

Discussion on the EBRD's Gender Action Plan and Its Implementation

Saturday 21 May 14:00-15:00
Summit Room, Pyramid

In line with the Bank’s mandate to promote the development of market economies in its countries of operations, the Bank has carried out several efforts  under its Gender Action Plan aimed to empower women economically through initiatives that can directly improve their economic participation, especially in the private sector. These initiatives seek to encourage women’s access to finance, income generation and entrepreneurial activities, labour force participation and career advancement. The Bank has also been promoting equal opportunities in the workplaces of its clients and has initiated some pilot gender interventions that promote a more equitable sharing of project benefits between men and women.  These initiatives and the Bank's gender activities in general will be covered in the session on the EBRD's Gender Action Plan and Its Implementation.  

The meeting will provide an opportunity for the EBRD to share its activities related to the implementation of the Gender Action Plan with a variety of stakeholders and receive their input, feedback, and comments on its activities.  Civil society stakeholders, foundations, donors, Women in Business participants, and EBRD staff that has been following the Bank's gender activities will be present at the session.  Jan Fischer, Vice President, Operational Policies, will be chairing the session.

For more information about the EBRD's work on gender, please consult our website and click here.

Trade Facilitation Programme

Saturday 21 May 16:30 - 18:30
Ballroom 4, Level 1, Palace of Independence

The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TPF) promotes international and intraregional trade activities between CEE/CIS region and the countries worldwide. This event will focus on the recent trends and developments in as well as outlook for trade finance banking and will also include award nomination ceremony for the TFP most active banks in 2010. Trade finance bankers and specialists are welcome to attend this renowned information and networking hub covering the topic of trade in the EBRD region; attendance is free of charge to all registered Annual Meeting participants. This event is generously sponsored by the Taiwan Business-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund.

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

A series of networking opportunities will be provided to the participants throughout the 2011 Business Forum. More detailed information on specific events will be provided nearer the time. 

Low-Carb(on) Lunch

Saturday 21 May 13:15 - 14:15
Press Briefing Room, Level 2, Palace of Independence

Interactive discussion over 'green lunch' on cost effective routes to low-carbon economies from central Europe to central Asia

How can countries in the region successfully implement specific climate change mitigation policies, such as energy efficiency standards and regulations, and introduce effective carbon pricing in order to stimulate large-scale private sector investments in energy efficiency and low-carbon technology? Informal and interactive discussion among panellists, with live participation from the audience consisting of representatives of international corporations, prospective investors, senior government officials and the press.

Take a look: The EBRD's Office of the Chief Economist and the LSE's Grantham Research Institute recently published a joint report on climate change mitigation in the countries from central Europe to central Asia. The Low Carbon Transition report looks at the region's energy and carbon performance over two decades, the macroeconomic, sector and social effects of climate policy, what policies can best deliver mitigation and the political economy of domestic climate policy.

SOCIAL EVENTS

The participants will be provided with an opportunity to attend a variety of social events that will run in parallel with the 2011 Business Forum. 

Receptions for all participants 

Hosted by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan 

Friday 20 May 18:30 
Pyramid

The Reception will include a concert and a buffet. It will begin in the Concert Hall of the Pyramid with a welcome address
by HE Karim Massimov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Thomas Mirow, President of the EBRD.

Late night drink 

Hosted by UniCredit

Friday 20 May 21:00
Regine’s French Restaurant

Delegates are invited to late night drinks hosted by Unicredit. 

To attend, please email Ivona Zucchiatti by 11th May 2011. Print the invitation and bring with you to the event. 

Click here to print invitation
(857KB - PDF) 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

The EBRD invites a select group of companies to become partners of the 2011 Business Forum. For more information on the sponsorship opportunities available, please contact forumpartners@ebrd.com

 

Last updated 16 May 2011