EBRD meeting, business forum kicks off in Sarajevo

By Gokhan Ergocun

SARAJEVO (AA) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Annual Meeting and Business Forum began on Tuesday in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

This year’s meeting and forum was organized under theme of "Connecting Economies for Stronger Growth", and focus on ways to "connect economies for strong growth and impact, both in the Western Balkans and beyond," according to its website.

Key topics at the three-day event are to include global trade, blockchain, digitalization, tourism and migration.

Participants will also discuss economic issues in some countries, including Turkey, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Around 3,000 leading experts, government officials, business-people, environmental specialists, entrepreneurs and others will attend the event.

Associated events will be held on Tuesday and discussions and institutional events start Wednesday.

Established in 1991 to facilitate reconstruction in Central and Eastern Europe after the Cold War, the EBRD has since made investments worth over €130 billion ($145 billion) in around 5,200 projects so far.

As a leading institutional investor in Turkey, the EBRD has invested over €11 billion ($12.3 billion) in 283 projects in the country since 2009.

Last year, the EBRD organized its annual meeting in Jordan under theme of "Energizing Economies".