News

The objective of the project FIT4SMES, co-financed by the CEI and by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and led by Informest, is to create a network of expertise for facilitating access to funds dedicated to small and medium enterprises in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

On 14 April the Secretary General of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce (AIC Forum), Mr Michele De Vita, and its General Manager, Mrs Luciana Frontini, met CEI Alternate Secretary General, Mr Giorgio Rosso Cicogna and the CEI Trust Fund Programme Manager, Mr Guido Paolucci, to discuss possible cooperation and joint projects.

CEI National Coordinators and EBRD Board Directors from CEI countries gathered at the Bank’s headquarters in London on the occasion of the CEI Steering Committee held on 5 April 2011, back to back with the CEI Committee of National Coordinators Meeting (CNC).

CEI Alternate Secretary General, Mr. Giorgio Rosso Cicogna, visited Belgrade on April 7 and 8, 2011 for consultations with the CEI Serbian Presidency in view of the organisation of several events to be held in the months to come.

On 6-7 April, CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter attended the meeting of the General Committee on Political and Home Affairs of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension in Rome.

On 30 March, at the CEI Headquarters, Mr. Franc Zepic from the Slovenian Ministry of Transport and Mr. Igor Mally from the Government Office for Development and European Affairs in Slovenia, met with CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter and his staff, for an exchange of views on possible ways of cooperation within the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR).

On Monday 28 March 2011, CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Poland, Waldemar Pawlak, in order to discuss possible avenues of cooperation between the CEI and the incoming EU Polish Presidency.

The activities for the projects entitled “SAFE ADRIA” and “COOPERADRIA”, started last week with kick-off meetings in Venice, Italy, on the premises of the Consortium for the Intermodal and Logistics Training (CFLI), the training structure owned by the Venice Port Authority.

The Central European Initiative, in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organised on 22-24 March, a meeting, in Trieste, with the ambassadors representing the CEI Member States accredited to Rome and with the Italian Ambassadors accredited to the CEI Member States.

The event was an opportunity to present a survey of the CEI activities carried out over the past years as well as to illustrate the steps taken in order to implement its core mission: regional cooperation for a European integration.

CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, met on 9 March 2011, with  Deputy Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Mrs Jelica Minić in Sarajevo. 

CEI Secretary General, Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, met Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Ana Trišić-Babić in Sarajevo on  9 March 2011. At the centre of discussions was the role of the CEI in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The project on Technical Assistance and Sharing of Best Practices for the Promotion of Female Entrepreneurship in Tourism and Services in Croatia was successfully concluded on 8 March 2011 with a Final Conference organised in Pordenone (Italy).

The CEI and BSEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 7 March 2011 at the BSEC Headquarters in Istanbul.

The first meeting of the Committee of CEI National Coordinators under the Serbian Presidency was held in Belgrade on 21 February 2011.

The activities for the Project entitled “Krapina Zagorje County Rural Development Strategy” started last week (25 February) with a kick-off meeting in Zabok, Croatia.

The final conference of the KEP AUSTRIA Project “Istria Getting Prepared for Structural Funds”, co-financed by the CEI with funds from the Austrian Development Agency, was held on 21 February 2011 at Villa Polesini in Porec (Croatia).

On 16 February 2011, the CEI hosted the annual Executive Board meeting of the Science & Technology Network (S&TN) at its Headquarters in Trieste.

Co-financed by the Italian Government’s contribution to the CEI Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) through the CEI Trust Fund at the EBRD and by the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy), the  Project Financial Facilities for SMEs: Training and Capacity Building for Business Support Organisations in the non-EU Member States of the Central European Initiative is implemented by Informest.

On 3 February, the CEI participated in the WIN-ICT final review meeting in Zagreb. The gathering aimed at assessing project results by independent evaluators and the EC Project Officer, who made a thorough appraisal of project outputs and achievements.

On 31 January, in the context of European Commission consultations on the Baltic Adriatic Corridor, the Project on the Accessibility and Development for the Re-launch of the Inner Adriatic Area  (Adria-A) was presented as the south terminal of the Baltic Adriatic Corridor by the Head of the Transport Directorate of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Riccardo Riccardi assisted by Project Manger, Carlo Fortuna