Venue: Conference Hall of Arena di Serdica Hotel

The conference will be opened by

• Ivailo Kalfin, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, CiO of the SEECP, co-organizer of the meeting
• Zhelyu Zhelev, President of Bulgaria (1990-1997), President of the Balkan Political Club (BPC), co-organizer of the meeting.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Session One: Defining the Scope of a Competitiveness Agenda for Southeast Europe (SEE); Role of RCC in Promoting Knowledge-based Economies in the Region.
(The aim of the session is to introduce general principles for extending the collaboration among SEE countries to setting up an Agenda aiming at enhanced regional competitiveness and building knowledge-based societies: three statements, no discussion.)

Chair: Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania (1996 - 2000), Professor in Geology in Bucharest University, Member of BPC

• Hido Biscevic, Secretary General of the RCC
• EU Representative (Most probably at the level of Director General)
• Cristian Mihai Adomnitei, Minister of Education and Science of Romania: The Importance of Human Capital Development in Southeast Europe

Session two: Developing Knowledge based Economies in Southeast Europe: achievements, deficiencies, prospects
(the aim of this two-panel session is to analyse the mechanisms of SEE co-operation with the view to identify, on one hand, the elements favorable for the development of the innovation systems on national and regional levels and, on the other hand, to make clear the deficiencies in the existing tools of co-operation; the final goal being the definition of appropriate activities to be developed under the aegis of RCC)

Panel one

Moderator: Mladen Ivanic, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Professor in Economics, Member of the Balkan Political Club

• Madlen Serban, Romania, Co- Chair of the Task Force Education and Youth (TFEY) and Anton Dobart, Austria, Co-Chair, Task Force Fostering and Building Human Capital- Opportunities for the Regional Cooperation in Southeast Europe.
• Nikolaos Sidiropoulos, General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry for development, Greece, The SEE-ERA-NET project: From a test phase (The Pilot Joint Call) to the development of a regional programme (ReP-SEE) and the coordination of national and regional innovation programmes (SEE-ERA.NET on Innovation).
• Sasha Besuhanova, Director General Hewlett-Packard- Bulgaria, Co-Chair of the Confederation of the Employers and the Industrialists in Bulgaria
• Lisbon Strategy: Platform for European and Balkan Regional Competitiveness

Panel two

Moderator: Yahia Tezel, Professor in Economy, Ankara University, Member of the Balkan Political Club

• Daniel Collet, Ministry of the Walloon Region- Belgium, Directorate of the Economic Policy: A new industrial policy: the experience of the Walloon Region (Belgium)
• Velitchko Alexandrov, Member of the Board, Business Advisory Council to the Regional Co-operation Council: Business and Scientific Challenges before Solving the Regional Energy Problems

Session three: Developing Knowledge Based Economies in SEE = Competitiveness (continuation of the previous discussion with a special accent on the potential niches for knowledge-based products and services)

Moderator: Dimitrios Katsoudas, Secretary General for European Affairs, Hellenic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Member of the Balkan political Club

Panel one

• Branko Drobnak, businessman, POTEZA, Slovenia: How Venture Capital and Business Angels Can Increase the GDP
• Ivo Slaus, Member of the Croatian Academy of Science, President of SEED of the World Academy of Art and Science, Member of BPC: Jobs-led Growth due to Knowledge
• Gilbert Fayl, Secretary for the External Affairs, European Academy of Sciences and Arts: Networks, instruments for promoting regional innovation

Panel two

Moderator : Murat Karayalcin, Member of the Balkan Political Club

• Momir Djurovic, President of the Montenegrin Academy of Arts and Science National academies and competitiveness
• Ognyan Drenski, Executive Director, Transhold Bulgaria Holding,
• Knowledge does not suffice.
• Stane Pejovnik, Ljubljana University, Member of BPC

Saturday,April 5, 2008

Session four: Setting the scene for RCC: Synergies among Economy, Knowledge, and Policy on Regional level (Proposal for RCC)

Моderator: Ljubisha Georgievski, President of the Macedonian National Assembly, Member of BPC

• Latchezar Borisov, Depuity- Minsiter of Economy and Industry, Bulgaria
• Nikola Sabotinov, Acting President, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
• Howard Alper, Distinguished Professor, Co-chair Interacademy panel Science, Technology and Innovation - Key to Building a Vibrant Knowledge-Based Canadian Economy
• Introduction of a Draft Proposal for RCC. The organizers will prepare a paper for the results of the conference and suggest guidelines for setting up the Competitiveness Agenda for SEE.

Closing Session (Approving the Proposal)

Moderator: Lyubomir Kyuchukov, Deputy- Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria

• Valeriu Ostalep, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Next Chair of the SEECP
• Each country of the SEECP has 5 minutes for comments on the Proposal and concluding remarks