London is hosting the EBRD’s 25th Annual Meeting and Business Forum on 11-12 May 2016
The EBRD will hold its 25th Annual Meeting and Business Forum on 11-12 May 2016 at the Bank’s London Headquarters. Follow proceedings on social media via the hashtag #EBRDam.
The EBRD was set up in 1991 to support the development of market economies in post-communist states.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, it now promotes economic transformation in 36 countries spanning three continents – from Mongolia in Central Asia to Morocco on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, from Estonia on the Baltic to Egypt on the Mediterranean.
Around 20 finance ministers and central bank governors from recipient and non-recipient countries including G-7 and EU nations will attend the meetings, along with other senior officials and high-ranking guests from finance and industry, as well as the expert panellists attending at the Business Forum: “Influencing Change – the Next 25 Years”.
The ministers and others who represent the EBRD’s 67 shareholders as the Board of Governors will discuss the Bank’s work over the coming years.
On 11 May they will choose the President of the EBRD for the next four years.
Senior officials attending include finance/economy ministers from Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (foreign trade and economic relations), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt (international cooperation), France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Tunisia (investment and international cooperation). Central bank governors are attending from Bulgaria, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland and Ukraine. Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič will be in attendance as well.
Following the admission of China as the EBRD’s 67th shareholder in January, the 2016 Annual Meeting will be attended by Gang Yi, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China and alternate Chinese governor to the EBRD.
The discussions with also be joined by Jin Liqun, the President of the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
EBRD media coverage will include the live-streaming of six key events, including the Board of Governors and the Business Forum opening sessions and two press conferences.
These can be seen on the dedicated live-streaming website and embedded via YouTube streaming coverage and will be available on-demand afterwards on both platforms.
In addition, an in-house studio allows connection remotely via Globelynx for live on-air interviews.
High-resolution photographs of the events can be downloaded from the EBRD Flickr album. For any other requests, please contact photos@ebrd.com
The EBRD media team can help facilitate interviews with senior delegates and key speakers at the conference and arrange interviews with senior EBRD management. Please direct all media enquiries to press@ebrd.com or +44 207 338 7805.
Two formal press conferences are scheduled. The EBRD’s economists will present a new economic outlook for the EBRD regions, assessing whether – despite persisting challenges – there may be scope for cautious optimism after five years of continued slow-down (13:30 on 11 May). We expect to release embargoed copies of the report on Monday 9 May.
See the previous EBRD Regional Economic Prospects report from November 2015.
President Suma Chakrabarti will hold a press briefing at 14:00 on 12 May.
Also, on 12 May, the EBRD and the EU will launch an unprecedented large-scale programme to support free trade areas with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Full schedule of the events, signing and press briefings here.
2016 Annual Business Forum ‘Influencing Change – the Next 25 Years’
While the Governors debate the EBRD’s institutional outlook, delegates discuss the questions most relevant to the EBRD’s activities with leading experts attending the Business Forum ‘Influencing Change – the Next 25 Years’.
Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, the Chair of the Board of Governors, will have a discussion with former Polish Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz who guided Poland’s economy through the tough early days of transition in the opening session of the Business Forum - “Two (past and present) Finance Ministers”.
Dr Balcerowicz has just been appointed adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to help navigate a path through that country’s economic challenges.
Following the EBRD’s decision to scale up its climate finance activities, leading climate expert Lord Stern will assess the progress that has been made and still needs to be made in delivering the 2015 Paris Climate agreement in a session entitled “In the wake of COP21”.
In a third session, the 2015 Nobel Peace laureates, Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet, will reflect on the successes and shortcomings of political and social developments over the past five years in the Arab world.
Other panels focus on the challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises, the progress towards the creation of a European Energy Union and, in the wake of the publication of the EBRD’s first Gender Strategy, a debate on “Why Gender Equality Matters”.
In a session that looks at the whole breadth of future global challenges, Oxford University academic Ian Goldin assesses The World in the Next 25 Years.
In another look ahead to future challenges, an event at which the EBRD’s 2015 Sustainability Report will be launched and awards presented for particular achievements in sustainability, a panel of experts will assess the new UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), analysing how they are relevant to the EBRD and how the EBRD and partners are responding to them.
Media are invited to presentations by senior officials and business people looking at the investment and economic outlook for Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Hungary, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine as well as a combined event for the Western Balkans.
Events ahead of the Annual Meeting include a “Financing for Green Infrastructure Investment” event. This 10 May half-day debate will focus on increasing private sector involvement in financing and delivering green infrastructure investments.
Background
The EBRD has had a strong start to 2016 after delivering a record €9.4 billion in investments in 2015. The Bank will continue to roll out a high level of investment in 2016.
The Bank’s primary focus is reigniting the transition process, combining a high level of investment with support for reform in a strategy guided by three overriding priorities:
- ensuring economies are more resilient to major external shocks – supporting reforms to improve the investment climate, increasing social inclusion, bolstering SMEs that help create jobs, developing local capital and local currency markets.
- promoting integration, by supporting investments that strengthen economic, financial and infrastructure links within individual countries and across national borders.
- addressing global and regional challenges, such as resource efficiency, combating climate change, and increasing energy and food security.
Some key events in 2016:
- The EBRD opened Representative Offices in Tokyo and in Washington, D.C. to reach out to companies in Japan and in North American (the United States, Canada and Mexico), with a view to increase business ties and investment flows to EBRD regions.
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The EBRD unveiled a refugee response (€900 million package of which €500 million are EBRD investments contingent on €400 million donor grants) and hosted a refugee crisis conference in London with focus on the private sector contribution.
- The EBRD opened an office in Greece after making our first investments there in 2015.
- The EBRD staged the second of its very successful Western Balkan summits bringing together political leaders from across the region to discuss investment potential and challenges.
- The EBRD hosted a Central Asian investment summit in Istanbul, with a major focus on investment opportunities in the region.
For a full overview of events at the Annual Meeting:
More information about discussions at the EBRD 2016 Annual Meeting and Business Forum
