Second
Regional Conference for
South East Europe
Bucharest,
October 25-26, 2001
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MEDIA ADVISORY
Brussels,
October 19 -- European Commissioner for External Relations,
Chris Patten and World Bank Vice-President for Europe and Central
Asia, Johannes Linn, will co-chair a Second Regional Conference
for South East Europe from October 25-26 in Bucharest. The
Conference is being organised by the European Commission and the
World Bank, in association with the Special Coordinator of the
Stability Pact, Bodo Hombach and the Romanian authorities.
At the first regional
conference, March 2000, the international community set objectives
and launched a quick start response to help revitalise the countries
of the region, which were suffering economic hardship following the
1999 Kosovo crisis. Donor efforts appear to have been successful in
turning the situation around.
The objectives of
this second Regional Conference are firstly to reaffirm the
political commitment of the countries of the region to foster
reforms and to strengthen regional cooperation and the commitment of
the international community to support this process; and secondly,
for the Donor Community to reach an agreement on the strategies for
the priority areas of the Stability Pact, and to review progress
made in putting into place funding mechanisms for those areas.
During the two day
meeting, the European Commission will present a report on the
Stabilisation and Association Process, and the World Bank and the
IMF will present a new paper on the overall economic progress in the
region since the inception of the Stability Pact. Beneficiary
countries will be invited to reaffirm their commitment to regional
co-operation and to explain how they intend to take this forward.
Discussions will also address regional economic issues, development
of regional infrastructure and trade, development of the private
sector, democratization, human rights and security issues.
This Conference is an
important moment for the international community and the countries
of the region to take steps to consolidate the good start made in
the economic reconstruction and redevelopment of South East Europe
since the start of the Stability Pact, and lay out the road map for
the region within Europe.
The media is invited to the following events in Brussels and
Bucharest:
Brussels
Joint EC/World
Bank/Stability Pact Background Briefing
European Commission Press Room, Breydel building, Ave
d'Auderghem, 45 |
October 22, 2001
12.30pm |
Bucharest
Joint EC/World
Bank/Stability Pact Background Briefing
EC Delegation office, Bucharest |
October 24, 2001
11.00am |
Opening Statements
Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest |
October 25 , 2001
9.00am to 9.40am |
Joint EC/World Bank/Stability Pact Press Conference
Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest |
October 25, 2001
12.30pm |
Further information on the Conference can be found on the Joint
EC/WB website: http://www.seerecon.org
Media Contacts:
European Commission:
Gunnar Wiegand
Tel: +32 2 2953358
gunnar.wiegand@cec.eu.int
World Bank:
Rachel Winter Jones
Tel: +32 476 470930
Rjones1@worldbank.org
Stability Pact:
Roland Bless
Tel: +32 478 974655
roland.bless@stabilitypact.org
This
document is also available in printer-friendly PDF format (42 KB)
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