Kopaonik Business Forum Begins – “A New Global Context: The Challenges of an Uncertain Future”

The 31st Kopaonik Business Forum begins on Kopaonik today, where, until March 6, over 200 speakers will participate, and the central topic will be “A New Global Context: The Challenges of an Uncertain Future”.

At the gathering, which is organized by the Serbian Association of Economists, 36 panel discussions will be held, as well as three plenary sessions and four special events with speakers from the academic community, the worlds of politics, business management, international financial sector and diplomacy.

A special guest at the forum will be Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University and a world-renowned expert in the field of sustainable development, and the participants will also be addressed by Ivailo Izvorski, Chief Economist for the Europe and Central Asia region at the World Bank.

Representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the president of the Fiscal Council of Serbia, Pavle Petrovic, will speak at the forum today, and macroeconomic projections for the Western Balkans and Serbia for 2024 and the results of the economic policy of Serbia in 2023 will be presented.

In addition to that, the latest survey pertaining to the corporate reputation index of various industries in Serbia will be presented as well, and there will also be talk about the creative industries, and two panels will be dedicated to the Digital Serbia Initiative.

Tomorrow, the forum officially opens with introductory statements by the governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Jorgovanka Tabakovic, and the minister of finance of Serbia, Sinisa Mali.

Following that, there will be talk about the outlook for the EU enlargement in the countries of the Western Balkans, digital transformation, climate change, regional cooperation of the countries of the Western Balkans.

Topics pertaining to the future of the automotive industry, changes in the insurance industry, the problem of the lack of quality workforce and the insufficient competitiveness of the Serbian economy will also be analyzed.

On Tuesday, March 5, the topics of energy transition, infrastructural investments in the conditions of growing interest rates, the transformation of the financial sector, the competitiveness of export-oriented small and medium enterprises, the problems of economic migrations and education 4.0 will be discussed.

There will also be talk about circular economy, the place of sports in business and the society, and topics pertaining to women leaders and reforms toward achieving a highly profitable economy will be considered, and challenges in agriculture, banking and the real estate sector will be analyzed as well.

The last day of the forum, March 6, will begin with a plenary session of the representatives of the World Health Organization and continue with panels about the questions of gender equality, policies and business practices meant for children and the young, the fight for talents, as well as the issues pertaining to the transformation of the health sector.

At the end of the forum, as announced, the participants will also be addressed by the prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic.

Savez ekonomista Srbije Beograd

Fiskalni savet Republike Srbije

Inicijativa Digitalna Srbija

Narodna banka Srbije Beograd

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Vlada Republike Srbije

Serbian Association of Economists

Fiscal Council of Serbia

Digital Serbia Initiative

National Bank of Serbia

Ministry of Finance of Serbia

Government of Serbia

Jeffrey Sachs

Ivailo Izvorski

Pavle Petrović

Jorgovanka Tabaković

Siniša Mali

Ana Brnabić

Kopaonik Business Forum