ESI at the World Economic Forum in Athens

The South-East Europe Meeting was held during the culminating weeks of the Greek Presidency of the EU. 250 foreign investors, regional business leaders, as well as key ministers and opinion-makers and heads of state and government examined the issues confronting Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia and Turkey.

Conclusions and recommendations by the business community will be fed into a major intergovernmental conference on the EU-Balkan integration process which will be held by the Greek government in Thessaloniki on 21 June.

For a summary of the lively discussion "Economic Update: How Can the Region Catch Up?" (with the participation of ESI President Gerald Knaus) click here. For a direct link to all summaries of the Forum, please click here. For more background information, you can also read or download the paper "Thessaloniki and Beyond: Europe's Challenge in the Western Balkans", written by Misha Glenny and Gerald Knaus.