The 5th Balkans & Black Sea Forum entitled “Trading Arteries & Global Supply Chains at Stake“, is held on Thursday, February 15, 2024 at the Piraeus Port Authority headquarters.
This by now well-established international conference takes place at a time when, in addition to the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine, the new flare-up in the Middle East not only upsets the already fragile balances in the region, but also causes massive disruption to global transports, shipping and to international supply chains.
The result of these upheavals are the continuous price increases of products and goods, delays in the transportation and delivery of products, the alarming decrease in the turnover of specific industries, the increase in inflation and, above all, the increase of the general feeling of insecurity and uncertainty.
The 5th Balkans & Black Sea Forum is held with the cooperation of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and the Piraeus Port Authority, will be attended – upon invitation – by diplomats, policy makers, heads of international organizations and business executives. The two keynote sessions focus on “Geopolitics, Regional Cooperation and Ports Hubs in the Mediterranean” the first, and “New order and trends in regional connectivity ” the second.
Among the confirmed speakers are the General Secretaries of the International Transport Forum – ITF of the OECD and the International Union of Railways (UIC), Mr. Young Tae Kim and Mr. François Davenne, respectively, the Ambassador of China Mr. Junzheng XIAO, the Head of Investment Strategy of Piraeus Bank Mr. Lekkos, the Executive Chairman of the Piraeus Port Authority S.A Mr. Zenggang YU, the President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute from the MFA of Kazakhstan Ambassador Nurgaliyev, the Counselor from the Secretariat of Cooperation of the MFA of China with CEEC Countries Ms. Xiaoxi XIA, the Director General of the Fudan Institute for Belt & Road and Global Governance Dr. Renwei HUANG, the Vice President of the China Foreign Affairs University Ms. Jisheng SUN, the Dpt. Secretary General of the BSEC Ambassador a.h. Mr. Rallis, the CEO of the Port of Kavala S.A. Mr. Vlachos, the Project Manager of the OECD SE Europe, Mr. Bosshammer, etc.
The welcome remarks will be delivered by the Alt. Minister of Economy & Finance Mr. Nikos Papathanasis, as the representative of the Prime Minister Mr. Mitsotakis.
The language of the conference will be English, while excerpts of its proceedings will be available after the conference on the Balkans & Black Sea Forum website on YouTube.
