The 2000 Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors
of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will take place in May in
Riga, Latvia, at the invitation of the Latvian Government. This year’s meeting will
focus on investment, trade and cross-border cooperation throughout the Bank’s region of
operations.
“Riga was selected as host for the EBRD’s 2000 Annual Meeting in
recognition of the importance of Latvia and the Baltic states for the region’s future
economic growth. Investment, trade and cross-border cooperation are fundamental to a
successful market economy,” said Antonio Maria Costa, the Secretary General of the EBRD.
“The meeting presents Latvia and the Bank’s other countries of operations with the
opportunity to highlight progress to date in the transition towards a market economy as
well as opportunities for future investment,” he added.
The statutory meeting of the Board of Governors will be held on Sunday
and Monday, 21 and 22 May 2000 in the Riga Congress Centre. The Opening Session will take
place on Sunday 21 May in the afternoon and will feature speeches by the Latvian Prime
Minister, Andris Skele; Sauli Niinistö, Chairman of the Board of Governors and
Finland’s Minister of Finance; and Horst Köhler, President of the EBRD. Other plenary
sessions will be held on Monday 22 May.
In parallel, a Business Forum will offer a wealth of information and
business contacts for investors. The Forum will be open from Saturday 20 May to Monday 22
May in the Latvian Society House and in the adjoining University of Latvia in the city
centre. An extensive programme of seminars and country presentations will be based on the
theme of investment, trade and cross-border activities in the Bank’s region of
operations. Distinguished speakers from the international and local business communities,
governments and organisations with interests in the region will participate in panel
discussions.
EBRD shareholder delegations from 58 states, the European Community and
the European Investment Bank, comprising over 600 delegates, are expected to take part in
the meeting along with more than 1,200 business guests and 300 members of the press.
On Saturday 20 May, the Mayor of Riga and the EBRD will host a special
meeting for mayors from the Bank’s countries of operations.
In addition, the Latvian authorities are organising the Baltics
Business Conference on Friday 19 May.
The city of Riga will celebrate its 800th anniversary in
2001. Once a member of the Hanseatic League, its old city dates back to medieval times.
Riga, which has quality hotels to accommodate the Annual Meeting participants, has carried
out a number of refurbishment projects in preparation of the meeting. Both the Congress
Centre and the Latvian Society House have been entirely refurbished and the Congress
Centre has also been enlarged.
By the end of 1999, the EBRD had committed EUR 13.7 billion to its
countries of operations, including EUR 252 million for 22 projects in Latvia, EUR 314
million for 35 projects in Estonia and EUR 249 million for 22 projects in Lithuania.
The EBRD was established in 1991 following the collapse of communism,
to aid the transition from centrally planned to market economies in central and eastern
Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The EBRD is owned by
60 shareholders: 58 countries, the European Investment Bank and the European Community,
and operates with EUR 20 billion in authorised capital.
Note to Editors:
Press must register to cover the Annual Meeting. Invitations will be
issued shortly. If you wish to cover the meeting but have not received an invitation by
the end of February 2000, please contact Jazz Singh in the EBRD Communications Department
in London, telephone +44 207 338 7931 and email address Singhja@ebrd.com.
