Economic growth

From 24 to 26 October, the Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation (WRS) hosted the meeting of the Thinktank platform on urban logistics issues, combined with the 5th Consortium meeting of the SULPITER project.

The final conference of the capacity building project “Support for Strengthening Energy Regulatory Authorities in the Western Balkans” was held in Budva - Montenegro on 12 October gathering representatives from the beneficiary countries, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as from the European Commission, the Energy Community, and energy stakeholders.

The meeting of the General Committee on Economic Affairs of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension took place on 25 September gathering delegations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.

On 28 September and 3 October, three “Blue labs” were organised in Trieste and Monfalcone for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which are active in traditional and emerging sectors of Blue Economy in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region.

On 26-27 September 2018, the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning of Croatia organised the international expert conference “Energy Efficiency in buildings - for a better tomorrow” in Zagreb.

On 18 September, the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority (Venice) hosted the 3rd Steering Committee meeting of the project SECNET (Cross-border institutional cooperation for Port Security Enhancement) funded under the Interreg Cross-border Programme Italy-Slovenia.

The fifth edition of the “Danube: Future Interdisciplinary School” took place at the University of Ruse, Bulgaria, between 9 and 16 September.

On 30 July 2018, the 1st local roundtable of the Inter-Connect project was organised by the Central European Initiative – Executive Secretariat (CEI-ES), at its premises in Trieste.

On 16-18 July, the Apulia Region hosted the 2nd Steering Committee meeting of the BLUE_BOOST project in Giovinazzo (BA) and organised the project’s 1st transnational Cross-Field Visit for delegations from 7 maritime territories in the Adriatic-Ionian region.

The 2nd 4helix+ Project Steering Committee meeting - held at the premises of the Portuguese project partner in Lisbon on 3-4 July - addressed in detail the upcoming project events and activities, namely the 4helix+ Blue Bootcamps, Regional Info Days, and Transbrokerage Event.

On 3-4 July, the Port of Luka Koper hosted the 2nd Steering Committee meeting of the ADRIPASS project, financed by ERDF and IPA funds under the Interreg ADRION Programme.

On 12-13 June, the Institute for Transports and Logistics (ITL) and the Region of Emilia-Romagna (RER) hosted the 2nd Steering Committee meeting of INTER-CONNECT (Intermodality Promotion and Rail Renaissance in Adriatic – Ionian Region), financed under the Interreg ADRION Programme and the ERDF and IPAII funds.

On 14 June the CEI hosted the launch event of pilot action n. 1 of the CONNECT2CE project, financed by ERDF under the Interreg Central Europe programme.

The Steering Committee Meeting of the project CONNECT2CE (Improved rail connections and smart mobility in Central Europe) took place in Bolzano (Italy) on 23-24 May, on the premises of EURAC (project partner).

On 23 and 24 April 2018, the city of Zadar, Croatia, hosted the official Kick-off Meeting of the BLUE_BOOST project. Seven project partners from Croatia, Italy, Greece and Albania gathered to launch this 22-month project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg ADRION Programme.  
 

More than 125 representatives from the business community as well as lawyers and arbitrators attended the conference "Strengthening the cooperation between business partners by enhancing arbitral resolution of disputes - Modern times for Arbitration: Initiatives and perspectives" held in Skopje, Macedonia, on 19-20 April.
 
Considering that over the last years, many arbitral institutions have revised their arbitration rules with a focus on speed and time-efficiency, the discussion paid attention to the efficiency of arbitration proceedings.

The 4helix+ project, co-financed by the ERDF under the Interreg MED Programme, was successfully kicked off in Rome on 16-17 April.

CEI Deputy Secretary General, Antal Nikoletti, took part in the 1st TESI international meeting, entitled “Towards ESOF 2020 Trieste – Fostering networks and collaborations” held in Trieste on 15 March. The event allowed for a first open debate on the forthcoming activities related to ESOF 2020, whose main event is taking place in Trieste on 4-10 July 2018.

The Regional Hidden Economy Forum in Skopje, Macedonia on 7 February was organised by the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) from Macedonia, in cooperation with the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) from Albania and the Democracy 4 Development (D4D) from Kosovo*. The forum brought together over 90 researchers and policymakers from 10 CEI countries to discuss the latest trends in measuring the hidden economy and transforming the findings into policies.