The Citadele Bank is hosting the 7th international business contact forum on Friday, March 9, under the title “The Baltic States: Quo Vadis?” The event is being organised by the International Forum Consortium in partnership with Citadele and the business magazine “Kapitāls”.
“The aim of these forums is to bring together businesspeople, investors, diplomats and politicians to find new business contacts, exchange ideas, identify new challenges and investors, as well as to help in understanding the vast potential which international contacts can provide,” says Tālivaldis Kreislers, council chairman of the International Business Networking Consortium. “This year the forum will bring together people from nearly 20 countries, including the ambassadors of Denmark, Austria, China, and other countries.”
Experts who will speak at the forum will come from Latvia, the UK, France and Denmark. Subjects will include Baltic economic and banking trends, energy issues, the potential of seaports, IT security, the tax system in the Baltic States, and unused opportunities for co-operation in the Baltic Sea region.
“This international business contact forum will offer a venue at which we will hear presentations about various topics that are of importance to local businesspeople and potential investors in the Baltic States,” says Citadele board member Philip Allard. “The forum offers a wonderful opportunity to learn about different views about the possible development of the Baltic States and countries in the Baltic Sea region, also looking at potential co-operation and timely issues. The main thing is that these presentations will be of use in ongoing practical activities, encouraging good changes and new business contacts.”
The forum will be introduced by economist Jānis Ošlejs, who will take a comparative look at economic processes in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, also considering possible scenarios for the development of those processes. Mr Allard will follow with a report on trends in the Latvian banking sector in 2012. Other lectors will discuss issues such as whether it is possible to ensure co-operation in the Baltic region when it comes to energy issues, which of the Baltic States offers the best advantages in terms of business management and tax systems, whether it will be possible to learn from past mistakes in relation to the security of IT systems, what experts think about potential investor interest in the Baltic States in 2017, and other timely issues, as well.
Of particular importance at the forum will be the extensive opportunities for participants to meet one another and to establish new business contacts.
Attending the forum will be foreign diplomats, people from foreign chambers of commerce, foreign investors and their representatives, members of Parliament, heads of ministries, as well as members of the business elite – company owners, bankers, lawyers and popular people from the world of culture.
The forum will be held from 11:00 AM until 5:30 PM at the conference hall of the Citadele Bank on March 9. Registration will begin at 10:00 AM.
Agenda for the forum