Coming Up in February February Gorizia Launching Meeting of

39 Coming Up in February 8 February, Gorizia: Launching Meeting of the project - IDEA - Interactive Database for Enterprises and Associations // An interactive platform to promote and develop Business Support Services in the CEI Countries. 9-11 February, Udine: INNOVACTION International Fair of Knowledge // Participants will present innovative products and services able to act as driving forces in increasing international competitivenes of enterprises. 17 February, Tirana: Committee of National Coordinators Meeting // The CEI National Coordinators will gather for their first meeting of the year. Do you believe Albania’s CEI Presidency will be useful with regard to your country’s aspirations towards European Integration? We consider the Central European Initiative a useful instrument with real impact on strengthening regional cooperation and our process of integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. T he recent enlargement of the EU, which included five member countries of our Initiative, has given to the CEI a more important role as a forum for harmonizing the policies of those of its member countries engaged in the Stabilization-Association Process with EU practices. During the year of the CEI Presidency, we are optimistic that Albania will be able to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU. In this regard, we are counting on the support of Austria as one of the founding states of the CEI and the country currently holding the EU Presidency. Let me express my conviction that the Meeting of the CEI Ministers of Foreign Affairs in May 2006 and the Summit of the CEI Prime Ministers in November 2006, both to be held in Tirana, will confirm the role of the CEI as an important political forum in the context of the European Integration Processes. Which CEI programmes are particularly interesting for Albania? Is the CEI with its current gamut of coop eration instruments well placed to advance its goals of building regional cohesion and solidarity? The development of infrastructure corridors, the further harmonization of market policies, the reduction of the existing barriers in the field of trade, the promo- JANUARY 2006 Interview on CEI Presidency 2006 with Albanian Foreign Minister, Besnik Mustafaj tion of foreign investment, the development of small and medium enterprises, as well as tourism must continue to remain the key issues on the economic agenda of CEI. As Chairman-in-office of the CEI, we intend to benefit from the financial resources of the CEI Cooperation Fund and its Trust Fund at the EBRD for projects in the above-mentioned priority sectors. In addition, we would like to focus on the exchange of information among CEI countries about their integration experience, taking advantage of the CEI Knowhow Exchange Programme. I think that the Summit Economic Forum and the Round Table of Ministers of the Economy offer an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the importance that CEI countries and the most important multinational partners attribute to the economic dimension of the CEI. I particularly welcome the fact that the CEI has succeeded in creating a climate of mutual understanding, favourable for the development of projects of both national and international character, for which the CEI is offering excellent conditions of financing and implementation. What could be the specific contribution of Albania to the CEI region and, in particular, to its neighbouring countries during its Presidency? During our Presidency, we aim at strengthening regional cooperation, promoting good neighbourliness, enhancing and consolidating the individual freedom and the rights of citizens, in particular their free movement. We also want to pay attention to fighting organized crime, increasing the security in our countries, and advancing the Euro-Atlantic integration process. In committing ourselves to these goals we will heavily draw on the experience of our predecessors in the CEI Presidency and of all CEI member countries. New Deputy Director General from Ukraine The Ukrainian diplomat Mykola Melenevskyi, until now Deputy Director of the UN Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kiev, has been seconded to the CEI – ES as Deputy Director General. He is following Mr. Milan Predan who returned to the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs after four years of service to the CEI. With Mr. Melenevskij the CEI will be able to strengthen its cooperation with Ukraine as well as with other non-EU member States in Eastern Europe. Mr. Melenevskji is a graduate of Kiev State University and did post-graduate work at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. CEINEWSLETTER CEI Strengthens Scientific Links with its Member States At the annual meeting of the Executive Board of the CEI Science & Technology Network there was general agreement that work had evolved favorably and that the Lead Institutions in Trieste had been able to expand their activities with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In 2005, the CEI carried out 9 common activities according to the work programmes adopted with the International Center for Theoretical Physics and the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. In addition to this, the CEI Fellowship Programme was successfully launched and allowed scientists from several eastern countries to conduct their work at the Synchrotron “Elettra”, the Area Science Park, the International Center for Science and High Technology and the International School for Advanced Studies. A promising cooperation has been initiated by the International Center for Theoretical Physics with Science and Technology EB meeting at the CEI Headquarters the Academy of Science of Belarus. It will be actively supported by the CEI. CEI Partnership in EU Project on Promotion of Lisbon Strategy When drafting the Work Programme for 2006 during its gathering in Trieste, the CEI Working Group on Interregional and Cross-border Cooperation (ICBC) focused in particular on current steps taken both by the European Union and the Council of Europe regarding the preparation of new legal documents for territorial co-operation in Europe. The meeting, held on 23 January 2006 at the CEI Headquarters, was chaired by Zygmunt Meyer, Marshal of West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland, and was attended by representatives from 13 CEI countries. They, inter alia, discussed the idea of creating a CEI Feature Event in the field of Cross Border Cooperation. Since the authorities of the region where the WG meeting is convened are traditionally invited to present their experience in cross-border activities, on this occasion the representatives of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region presented their co-operation with Slovenia, Austria and Croatia as well as transnational projects which they promote with partners across Europe. In addition, the WG was acquainted with the INTERACT Project “Achievement of the Lisbon Strategy by Interreg”, presented by SVIM, the Development Agency of Marche Region. The CEI is a partner in this European project which aims at promoting the Lisbon Strategy in future INTERREG projects. IST Experts from Central and Eastern Europe on Cooperation with the EU On Monday 30 January, the first two-day meeting of the Great-IST EU project (IST stands for Information Society Technologies) took place at the Stazione Marittima Congress Centre in Trieste. The main aim of the project is to assist the ten target countries (Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, the Ukraine) in harmonising their IST policies and research infrastructure with the EU standards. The opening plenary session was chaired by Ms Lara Tassan Zanin of the CEI Project Secretariat and attended by more than 50 experts from 15 Central and Eastern European countries. The meeting was structured around the activities of three Working Groups (WGs), i.e. institution-building, IST policy harmonisation and linking IST research and business. Moreover, in order to find adequate instruments for co-operation between the ten target countries and the members of the European Union, the similarities and dissimilarities of the state-ofthe-art of IST in the above-mentioned countries were discussed. In this regard, opportunities for international cooperation projects, in view of the 7th EU Framework Programme for Research and Development for the period 2007-2013, were analyzed. The representative of the European Commission Mr. Vlassios Venner, from the Directorate General of Particpants at the first meeting of the Working Groups of the Great-IST project Information Society confirmed the importance of this project within the European integration process of the CEI countries in South-East Europe and also in view of the implementation of the EU Neighbourhood Policy. In evaluating the first results, factors such as political instability, implying frequent changes in the national institutional infrastructure dedicated to IST, were taken into consideration. This is also one of the reasons why many countries adopted an IST National Strategy without implementing it at operational level. This situation is significantly worsened by the braindrain effect in the ICT sector. n. 39 January 2006 Most Citizens in CEI Region Have to Become IT Literate “The Lisbon Agenda has been designed as a bench mark for transforming the EU countries into the most competitive economies. Unfortunately, too many goals of the Lisbon Agenda were not realistic and will, therefore, be difficult to achieve. This Agenda should have been focused on clear midterm targets like promoting the knowledge-based economy and building a bridge between public and private sectors to create optimal conditions for competitiveness and economic growth in EU countries. Public Private Partnerships are perfect structures to bridge existing market gaps, especially in new member states. The Lisbon Agenda should, therefore, encourage governments to create a legal environment that will strongly support cooperation between the public and private sector not only for education and research purposes but also by raising awareness and encouraging the demand and usage of new technologies in daily life“ says Miroslav Majoros, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Slovak Telecom who participated in the recent CEI Summit Economic Forum in Bratislava. What kind of impact has the ICT business on the Slovak economy? Can we expect the same trends in the whole CEE? “In modern economies, the added value of the final product is mainly created by non-material factors. At the same time, human resources, intellectual property and technological know-how are considered to be the most substantial boosters of business. In this respect, the ability of Slovak citizens to accept and accommodate to new demand and pressure of technological progress has been crucial in the past decade. Nowadays, overcoming the digital divide is more and more part of economic strategies to ensure competitiveness in our country, and the knowledge economy is the key to sustainable growth and a new challenge for Slovakia and all its industrial sectors. This led and is still leading to changes in the scope of business, communication with customers, partners and the government, as well as to changes in environment for entrepreneurship in the whole country. As to exporting this Slovak experience towards CEE, I would say that the introduction of information technologies into society is one of the best means of transforming a country into a dynamic, knowledgebased economy. Within the next few years, it is therefore necessary to ensure that most citizens are IT literate, have access to Internet and are able to enjoy the benefits of the information society. This should result in an increase in the overall level of education, productivity and employment, greater social inclusion of disadvantaged groups of citizens, improvement in the quality of services, faster growth of innovations and more effective use of public funds. That is why it will be necessary to significantly strengthen the institutional capacities in the whole CEI region: in the short-run by increasing the competence of the responsible for the introduction of information technologies. Our countries can offer more added value if we are well educated in modern technologies. Otherwise, competitiveness in Europe can only be developed on the basis of the cheap labour and good manual skills. Today, effectiveness means more than that.” From your perspective as a business player, what role can the CEI (as an intergovernmental organization) have in exploiting the potential of ICT in CEE? “In addition to what I have already mentioned, I could add improving the business environment, promoting a more favourable regulative system, or even less regulation, less state involvement where competition already exists and on the other hand, planning more state support for underdeveloped regions in order to enable them for utilizing advantages of ICT. All these important issues could be considered to develop initiatives, projects, communication campaigns, exchange of best practices and other ways of supporting ICT within the development assistance implemented by the CEI in this region.” Reminder: Deadlines for Submitting CEI Projects in April and October There are two deadlines for submitting applications for Co-operation Activities: 1 April (for implementation from July to December) and 1 October (for implementation from January to June). If your institution/organisation belongs to a CEI Member State and is organising a small scale event taking the form of a seminar, workshop, training course or other kind of meeting limited in time and involving a large number of CEI countries having the greatest need for accelerated economic development or recovery, do not hesitate to contact us in order to submit a Cooperation Activity proposal by April 1! You can find the Application Form as well as the CEI Rules for Allocation of Resources at www.ceinet.org (Chapter 5.2.1.). A list of the approved CEI Co-operation Activities is also available (Chapter 6.2.1.). CEI-ES Director General Meets Authorities in Tirana to Discuss 2006 Presidency During his visit to Tirana on 7-8 February 2006, Amb. Harald Kreid, CEI Executive Secretariat Director General, will be received by Prime Minister Sali Berisha in order to discuss the preparations for Albania’s CEI Pesidency and the intensification of the CEI’s operational activities with Albania. On this occasion the CEI-ES DG will also have an opportunity for meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Besnik Mustafaj, the Minister of the Economy, Trade and Industry Genc Ruli and the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication Lulzim Basha. Other topics on the agenda of Mr. Kreid’s visit are tourism, culture, education and youth affairs as well as the co-operation of the CEI Chambers of Commerce which this year will be chaired by Mr. Luan Bregasi of the Albanian Union of Chambers of Commerce. CEI Presidency : Albania Ministry of Foreign Affairs Boulevard Gjergj Fishta 6, Tirana tel +3554225104 fax + 355462084/85 apasholli@mfa.gov.al mpistoli@mfa.gov.al www.mfa.gov.al Other useful CEI addresses Secretariat for CEI Projects EBRD, One Exchange Square, London, EC2A 2JN United Kingdom tel + 44 207 3386152 fax +44 207 3386538 Paoluccg@ebrd.com monthly published by CEI - Executive Secretariat Via Genova 9, 34121 Trieste, Italy tel + 39 040 7786777 fax + 39 040 360640 www.ceinet.org email : cei-es@cei-es.org Coordinating Joint Work of the European Corridors’ Secretariats At a meeting recently held in Vienna, which for the first time brought together the representatives of the Transport Corridor Secretariats to discuss the strengthening of their role, a possible regulatory framework applicable to all of them and future options for the financing of the Secretariats, participants decided to entrust a Working Group, chaired by Mr. Giuseppe Razza from the Corridor V Secretariat in Trieste, with the elaboration of a discussion paper addressing these questions. On this occasion, Mr. Edgar Thielmann from the European Commission, explained the new concept of the EU which foresees incorporating the 10 corridors into five main axes. According to the spokesman of the EC this would not prevent the corridors from continuing to exist within the new structure which would, in any case, need time to be implemented. CEI UniNet Promotion in Poland Well Received Around 50 representatives of several Polish universities gathered on the premises of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (see photo above) on January 13th for an information seminar about the Central European Initiative University Network (CEI UniNet). The idea of organizing an event of this kind was raised by the Center for European Integration of the Adam Mickiewicz University and was financially supported by the CEI Executive Secretariat. The meeting took place at the recently built campus of the Adam Mickiewicz University, located amidst woods in the outskirts of Poznan. After the introductory greetings by Prof. Dr. Marek Kreglewski, ViceRector of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, and Prof. Dr. Aleksander Mikolajczak, Director of Collegium Europaeum Gnesnense, the floor was taken by CEI-ES representative Giovanni Gabassi who briefed the audience about the CEI UniNet, its structure, funds and application procedures. A concrete example of a CEI UniNet Joint Programme was presented by Rafal Dymczyk and Konrad Dominas, PhD students at the Collegium Europaeum Gnesnense who outlined the 3-week “Traveling School: Cross Cultural Communication on the Balkan Peninsula” which took place in 4 different locations in the Balkans: Plovdiv, Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria), Ohrid, Bitola (Macedonia) and Gjirokaster (Albania). In view of the very positive response to this initiative, the CEI Secretariat is considering to hold similar information events at other Universities belonging to the CEI University Network as well. For more information: www.ceinet.org CEI Award to Bulgarian Film on Abandoned Children The 2,500 Euro prize, awarded for the first time by the CEI at this year’s 17th edition of the Trieste Film Festival, went to Georgi Djulgerov’s Bulgarian film Lady Zee. The winner was selected among the competing feature films produced in CEI Member States because, according to the selection committee, it “best represented the contemporary reality of a given country as well as intercultural dialogue”. The prize was presented by the CEI-ES Director General Harald Kreid during the closing ceremony of the Festival. Djulgerov, after carrying out a survey which indicated that around 35,000 Bulgarians are abandoned children with troubled lives and personalities lacking self-esteem and confidence, decided to bring this cruel reality on the screen. He depicted the lives of a group of young people who had been abandoned by their families and were brought up in orphanages. Prior to Trieste, the film won an award at the Sarajevo Film Festival as well. For more information: www.triestefilmfestival.it Subscription info@cei-es.org