Panel sessions 2019
Organized by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Giorgi Gakharia
Prime Minister of Georgia
Nouriel Roubini
Professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business
Giorgi Gakharia
Prime Minister of Georgia
Nouriel Roubini
Professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business
Main topics:
Towards the Common Future: Understanding Stability and Sustainable growth patterns
New regional economic architecture;
Roadmap for collaboration along the Silk Road;
Silk Road – Ensuring sustainable connectivity;
Challenges and opportunities of small economies to integrate into global value chains.
Elyor M. GANIEV
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Li Hui
Government Special Envoy in Eurasia Region of the People's Republic of China
Maya Tskitishvili
Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia
Nouriel Roubini
Professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business
SHIXIN CHEN
Vice-President (Operations 1) Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Tigran Avinyan
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
Main topics:
Challenges and opportunities to enable transformative change for improved SME competitiveness to facilitate their growth and integration in global markets;
Aspects of strengthened quality infrastructure for regional integration and trade development, new modes of partnerships to enable growth markets;
Key trends in trade and investment, including the digitalization of economies and the role of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to connect societies into the global economy
Arancha González
Executive Director, International Trade Center
Aaron Heslehurst
Award Winning BBC World News TV Presenter
Genadi Arveladze
Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
Ivan Scalfarotto
Under-Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy
Sahar Nasr
Minister of Investment and International Cooperation of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Yonov Frederick Agah
Deputy Director General, WTO
Organized by Georgian Railway(Closed Session)
Main topics:
Challenges and opportunities arising from future trends in Energy sector;
Digitalization of the energy sector;
Energy security and sustainability;
Future of energy supply, renewable energy and increasing role of cross border trading;
The new electricity market and prospects for regional power exchange
Constantin Cotzias
Director, Bloomberg Europe / Chair, Bloomberg London
Aida Sitdikova
Director Energy, Eurasia, Sustainable Infrastructure Group, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
David Tvalabeishvili
Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
Mr. Wang Lei
Vice President of China Tianchen Engineering Corporation (TCC)
Werner E. Liepach
Director General Central and West Asia Department, Asian Development Bank
Yashar Latifov
Vice President, The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR)
Main topics:
Policy and regulatory frameworks;
AI in research and development;
AI ethics and challenges;
Opportunities for cross-border regulation of AI and other 4th Industrial Revolution technologies.
Marko Marn
Senior Partner Solution Professional Data&AI, Microsoft CEE Multi Country
Rob McCargow
Director of Artificial Intelligence, PwC
Armen Abroyan
Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia
Irakli Beridze
Head, Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics United Nations, UNICRI
László György
Secretary of State for Economic Strategy and Regulation, Ministry for Innovation and Technology of Hungary
Nikoloz Alavidze
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
Nino Enukidze
Rector, Professor, Business and Technology University
Main topics:
Effects of TEN-T connectivity within the Eastern Partnership countries and between the Eastern Partnership countries and the European Union on economic growth, interdependency, and long-term stability and prosperity of the region;
Factors enabling the development of the extended TEN-T;
Creating a sustainable transport network adjusted for future needs – digitalization, road safety.
Bagrat Badalyan
Deputy Minister for Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia
Elena Perminova
Deputy Minister of Economy and the Republic of Belarus
Elmir Tofig oglu Velizade
Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Flavia Palanza
Director, European Investment Bank, Lending Operations in EU Neighbouring Countries
Irakli Karseladze
First Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructures of Georgia, Chairman of Roads Department of Georgia
Lawrence Meredith
Director, European Commission DG NEAR Neighbourhood East
Libor Lochman
Executive Director, CER
Richard Pomfret
Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Adelaide
Richard Willis
Press officer, Communication Department, EIB
Main topics:
Opportunities for improvement of transport links along the Silk Road;
Infrastructure financing: successful models and existing financial mechanisms;
Mobilization and leveraging of additional resources for transport infrastructure development;
ITC and digital solutions in transport and logistics for safety, reliability and effective supply chain management.
Juliette Foster
Founder and Managing Director, Magnus Communications; Former Sky News/BBC business presenter
Mehmet Cahit Turhan
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Turkey
Natia Turnava
Acting Governor, First Vice-Governor of NBG
Ramin Namig oglu Guluzade oglu
Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Rossen Jeliazkov
Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria
Umberto de Pretto
Secretary General, International Road Transport Union (IRU)
Vladyslav Kryklii
Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine
Yama Yari
Minister of Transport of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Main topics:
Discussion Points:
Knowledge corridors can be visualized as an interconnected web with virtual destinations, thoughts and ideas of knowledge enablers (government), knowledge articulators (sector experts), knowledge generators (research entities), and knowledge transformers (business sector) to translate knowledge into tangible gains.
Role of knowledge corridors to regional economic cooperation platforms are critical, considering importance and need of standardized and systematic approach in regional transport, trade, energy and tourism development.
The central idea of knowledge corridors is to make knowledge a profitable commodity or convert ‘data to dollars’.
Rapid advancement in information and communication technology, reduction in time and cost of access to information and data sharing, and higher connectivity and mobility facilitate knowledge exchange and partnership at a greater degree.
Akaki Saghirashvili
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
Iskandar Abdullaev
Deputy Director, CAREC Institute
S. Sohail H. Naqvi Naqvi
Rector, University of Central Asia
SHIXIN CHEN
Vice-President (Operations 1) Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Siddhart Saxena
Chair of Central Asia Forum, Cambridge University
Sukhrob Mirzozoda
First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Tajikistan
Taleh Ziyadov
Director-General of Port of Baku, Azerbaijan
Tamar Sulukhia
Director, ISET Policy Institute, International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University
Main topics:
Organized by World Bank
Welcoming Remarks by Dr.Bernard Aritua, Senior Infrastructure Specialist, The World Bank
Key Note Speech by Mr. Abdulaziz Faghi, Program Leader for Infrastructure, Europe and Central Asia Region, The World Bank
David Peradze
General Director, JSC Georgian Railway (GR)
Pasha Karim
Regional Manager, Kerry/Globallink Logistics
Bernard Aritua
Senior Infrastructure Specialist, The World Bank
Hendrik Wehlen
General Manager Sales and Operations, InterRail Europe GmbH
Javid Gurbanov
Chairman, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY)
Jiyi Zhang
Chairman of China Railway Container Transport Corp.,Ltd.
Ming Li
Director of Smart City Department of China Center for Urban Development, National Development and Reform Commission
Victor Aragones
Senior Transport Economist, The World Bank
Giorgi Gakharia
Prime Minister of Georgia
Main topics:
Investment Attractiveness Update: Reforms and Initiatives aimed at further improving Business Climate;
Georgia – a rising destination for new investment opportunities;
Recent initiative of Georgia’s sustainable development aspirations towards greener economy;
Facilitating Impact Investments for Sustainable Economic Development
Joe Lynam
BBC's Senior Business Correspondent
William Markstein
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Trammo
Alexander Benard
Co-Head of Cerberus Frontier and Senior Managing Director, Cerberus (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
Fatih Guven
General Manager of ENKA Power
Irakli Burdiladze
CEO of JSC m2 Real Estate
Natia Turnava
Acting Governor, First Vice-Governor of NBG
Main topics:
How a better connectivity across the Silk road paves the way for new investment opportunities;
The importance of stable investment partners & destinations for connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia;
Making the most of FTA networks and improved global market access for the Silk Road countries.
Alexander Maier
CEO, AE Solar Alternative Energy GmbH
Archil Gachechiladze
CEO, Bank of Georgia
David Saganelidze
CEO of JSC Partnership Fund
Joe Lynam
BBC's Senior Business Correspondent
William Tompson
Head of the Eurasia Division in the OECD Global Relations Secretariat
Abdulrahman Essa Al-Mannai
CEO, Milaha Group (Qatar Navigation)
Robin Jowitt
Partner at EY, Leader of capital transformation in Europe, Middle East, India, Africa / CESA
Main topics:
Organized by Georgian Railway(Closed Session)