8.30am

Registration

9.00am

Chairman’s welcome

Laza Kekić, Regional Director, Central & Eastern Europe, and Director, Country Forecasting Services, Economist Intelligence Unit

9.05am

From crisis to a sustained recovery? The outlook for Central and Eastern Europe

• After a very poor 2009, how strongly will the CEE region recover?
• What, if any, will be the main adjustments to pre-2009 growth models?
• Which CEE countries will fare best and which will struggle?
• What are the main risks?

Erik Berglof, Chief Economist and Special Adviser to the President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The Economist Intelligence Unit briefing on Serbia

• Will a global recovery and stronger foreign capital flows help Serbia return to growth in 2010?
• How has the global economic crisis affected Serbia’s longer-term growth potential?
• Should investors worry about political risk?

Joan Hoey, Senior Editor/Economist, Central & Eastern Europe, Economist Intelligence Unit

9.45am

Building a new growth model

Discussion with Mirko Cvetković, Prime Minister

What can Serbia’s government do to stimulate the economy and bring the country back to growth?

Although IMF conditions will limit the government’s options, the authorities could still have some room for manoeuver if the global financial and economic crisis eases during 2010.

Serbia’s prime minister will outline his government’s policy priorities and what these mean for business.

10.45am

Break

11.15am

How can Serbia promote itself to investors?

Off-the-record business leaders’ discussion

• As global appetite for risk slowly returns, are the Serbian authorities doing enough to attract the sort of foreign investment that will boost the country’s longer-term growth?

• Is the government cutting regulations and red tape, and upgrading infrastructure?

• Are Serbia’s energy supplies secure?

• Which sectors are investors likely to find most attractive?

Panellists:
Alexandar Radosavljević, Chief Executive Officer, South-Eastern Europe, Carlsberg
Alexander Panfilov, Chief Executive Officer, Lukoil Serbia
Kjell-Morten Johnsen, Chief Executive Officer, Telenor Serbia
 

12.30pm

Networking lunch

1.30pm

Can business still count on EU membership for Serbia?

Off-the-record discussion with Božidar Đelić, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and Minister of Science and Technological Development

• Will Serbia move closer to the EU during 2010, or is visa liberalisation the limit of what it can achieve in the foreseeable future?

• Will Serbia become a candidate country in 2010, or will enlargement fatigue in the EU block the country’s path?

• Should investors in Serbia assume that the country will eventually join the EU?

• What would a future outside the EU mean for business?

Panellists:
Ivan Vejvoda, Executive Director, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Boris Begović, President, Centre for Liberal-Democratic Studies

2.30pm

Break

3.00pm

Assessing the risks to economic stability

Off-the-record discussion with Diana Dragutinović, Minister of Finance, and Radovan Jelašić, Governor, National Bank of Serbia

• With 2010 likely to be another challenging year, what will Serbia’s policymakers do to minimise macroeconomic risks?

• Can the government control the budget deficit?

• What is the outlook for the dinar’s exchange rate, inflation and interest rates?

• Can the authorities keep the financial sector stable and help credit to flow again?

Panellists:
Poul M. Thomsen, Deputy Director European Department, IMF
Klaus Priverschek, Chief Executive Officer, UniCredit Bank Serbia

4.15pm

Foreign policy priorities for the year ahead

Keynote address by Vuk Jeremić, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Followed by farewell refreshments