News from Berlin

East Forum Berlin: Connecting European Business in East and West

April 16th, 2014
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News from Berlin - The East Forum, held on April 10th in Berlin, was a dialogue platform coordinated by the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, the Federal State of Berlin, and UniCredit. The annual event brings together high-ranking leaders in the political and economic realm in the East and West to discuss conflicts and opportunities in the economic area from Lisbon to Vladivostok. 350 participants from over 20 countries gathered for the two day conference. The aim of the East Forum is to subjugate barriers for businesses and investment in the whole of Europe, exchange knowledge and develop networks for cross-border cooperation.

The event also serves to highlight Berlin as a vibrant hub of political and economic dialogue and to present economic perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe. The conference opened with a discussion titled ‘Europe in Dialogue’, followed by various panel discussions, presentations on business opportunities, and networking. Furthermore, the event was complemented by coinciding events such as the ‘European Business and Science Forum on Energy, Environment, Waste and Recycling’, and the ‘Italian and German Businesses Jointly Looking East’, which completed the two days of the East Forum. The discussions opened the debate on a united European economic area, stretching all the way from western Portugal, to eastern Russia.

The forum also explored economic situations to the current Ukraine conflict. The last day of the forum closed with an impassioned plea to the responsible leaders in East and West to do their best to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine, to help avoid the threat of harm to the European economy. Sixteen embassies included presentations at the forum and Ministers from ten countries attended, including German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit opened the event along with a video message from EU Commissioner Günter Oettinger.

News from Berlin - Berlin Global