10. Grow East Congress 2019

27th March 2019

Central and Eastern Europe’s role in Europe and beyond: Where is the region heading?
The 10^th Congress addressed CEE’s role today in Europe and in the world. The societies of CEE have become wealthier and more self-confident in the last 30 years. Local firms integrated into global value chains, recreated their industries at home and expanded internationally, many of them as innovative niche firms. At the same time, foreign firms have played a central role in the modernization and international opening of those economies. Now the CEE countries are looking for more independence, politically and economically. Their politicians voice distinct views on the future of the European Union and question the liberal model of democracy and market economy. How does this go together? How well are these countries prepared for the future challenges?

The list of keynote speakers included among others:

• Jan Zielonka, Professor of European Politics at the University of Oxford and author of the book „Counter-Revolution - Liberal Europe in Retreat“
• Wilhelm Molterer, Managing Director, European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
• Gunter Deuber, Head of Economics Department, Raiffeisen Bank International
• Jens Brüning, Location Head Deep Machine Learning, Continental
• Gernot Rasch, Group Head of Marketing, A1 Telekom Austria Group
• Töre Birol, Vice President Sales CEE, Henkel CEE
• Arnold Veraart, Senior Vice President Commercial Asia, Middle East and North Africa, PepsiCo

The Congress is a joint initiative of the Competence Center for Emerging Markets & CEE at WU, NEUSICHT Think Tank and Aussenwirtschaft Austria, the international arm of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO).

Impressions:
Grow East Congress 2019
Presentations:
Detailed review (in German)
Find the speakers presentations here
Die EU braucht ein neues „Narrativ“ - Cash Artikel