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First conference by an international financial institution on the island
More than 40 events, discussion panels, press briefings and special meetings will make up the programme of an especially busy and wide-reaching Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the EBRD in Nicosia from 9–11 May 2017. The theme of the meeting is “Targeting Green and Inclusive Growth: Meeting Regional and Global Challenges”.
It will be the first annual conference of an international financial institution in Cyprus and government representatives, business people, civil society organisations, experts and media are expected to attend. The EBRD is currently owned by 65 countries from five continents as well as the European Union and the European Investment Bank.
The EBRD is coming to Cyprus in a very healthy state as a vigorous institution that continues to deliver real impact in the countries where it invests. In 2016, the Bank recorded another year of record investments of €9.4 billion with projects that make a strong contribution to the economic transformation and profits. In Cyprus, where the Bank started operating in 2014, the EBRD to date has invested some €220 million.
At the Annual Meeting, the Bank’s shareholders take decisions about the EBRD’s strategy and operations. For example, at its 2014 Annual Meeting the Bank’s shareholders voted in favour of expanding operations to Cyprus on a temporary basis to support the island’s recovery from a severe economic crisis. The EBRD invests in its more than 35 countries of operations to support the development of the private sector and market-based economies. Since its establishment in 1991, the Bank has invested almost €120 billion in more than 4,700 projects.
The Business Forum is part of the event programme and will offer panels which have been organised to address the EBRD’s new transition concept. They will discuss questions of competitiveness, governance, green growth, inclusion, resilience and integration and assemble prominent speakers such as Herman Gref, CEO, Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank of Russia; Maria Demertzis, Deputy Director, Bruegel; Ran Senderovitz, Vice President CCG, General Manager, Intel Israel; Jacqueline McGlade, Chief Scientist, United Nations Environment Programme; Iveta Radičová, Former Prime Minister, Slovak Republic; Mark Elborne, President and CEO, GE UK and Ireland; Fokion Karavias, CEO, Eurobank; Boris Vujčić, Governor, Croatian National Bank and many more.
The full lists of events and participants of the 26th EBRD Annual Meeting and Business Forum as well as regular updates are available here.
As host country Cyprus will take the opportunity to present itself to the business community in a special event, which will be opened with keynote addresses by EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti and Cyprus’s Minister of Finance, Harris Georgiades.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine have confirmed that they will be holding presentations about business opportunities in their countries. Many shareholders will be represented with senior government delegations such as, for instance, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Finance, Bakhyt Sultanov and Ukraine’s Minister of Finance, Oleksandr Danylyuk.
All these events are open to the media. In addition, EBRD President Chakrabarti will inform the press of the results of the Governors’ Meeting in his traditional media briefing on Thursday 11 May. EBRD Chief Economist Sergei Guriev and EBRD Director for Country Strategy and Policy in Economics, Policy and Governance Artur Radziwiłł will present the Bank’s latest economic growth forecasts for its regions on Wednesday 10 May. The Bank will also launch its first Inclusion Strategy with a press conference.
Special media events will include the opportunity to meet representatives of the initiative “Playersforpeace” and watch a symbolic basketball match and there will be opportunity for photos and interviews on Tuesday 9 May in the UN buffer zone. “Playersforpeace” is a youth project bringing together the communities of the island in support of reconciliation.
On Thursday 11 May, interested media are invited to visit an EBRD-financed photovoltaic project in Pera Chorio Nisou. Participants will witness the inauguration ceremony for five photovoltaic parks which will be attended by senior government and EBRD representatives.
In both cases places will be limited due to logistical constraints and assigned on a first-come, first served-basis. Media representatives who would like to attend please contact Svitlana Coppola on press@ebrd.com.
A special press filing centre will be available for media representatives and will be open throughout the event. It will provide desks and be staffed with press officers who will be at the media’s disposal to answer questions, organise interviews or help with any other requests. Filming, photography and social media communications is permitted except for designated areas.
Photos of the events will be uploaded throughout the day on the EBRD Flickr site where you can download high-resolution pictures.
Wifi will be available throughout the venue.
The EBRD will be also livestream four events in Nicosia: the Board of Governors opening meeting on 10 May; the Chief Economist’s press conference on the same day; the Host Country Investment Outlook session on 11 May; and the concluding press conference by EBRD President Chakrabarti on the same day. Video streaming of these sessions will be available live and on demand.
In addition, on 11 May the Bank is launching its first Inclusion Strategy in a press conference at 15.30 hrs local time. This will be followed by a Facebook Live on inclusion with Managing Director, Economics, Policy and Governance, Mattia Romani (TBC); Chief Economist Guriev and Lead Economist for Inclusion, Barbara Rambousek. You are invited to submit your questions ahead of time or during the live session by commenting on the broadcast using #EBRDInclusion.
Press attendance at the Annual Meeting is free for registered media representatives in possession of a valid press ID. If you have not yet registered, please click here now.
If you have any further questions or need support, please contact Anastasia Adamidou on aadamidou@pio.moi.gov.cy or Axel Reiserer on axel.reiserer@ebrd.com.