Why so many business conferences? The answer is simple: to meet the demand from businesspeople seeking to learn and network.
That’s why so many conferences are taking place inside and outside of Ukraine, from global investment summits to targeted gatherings by topic or industry sector.
The Ukrainian Investment Summit, conducted annually by Adam Smith conferences, has been considered the big event in business circles. It takes place in London, Europe’s financial capital, bringing together investors from around the world with Ukrainian businesspeople and government representatives.
However, the latest 8th Adam Smith Ukrainian Investment Summit in April showed a drop in investor interest in Ukraine. Consequently, instead of the regular summit next year, the organizer is only scheduling topic-specific conferences in Ukraine and Russia.
Into this mix, the Kyiv Post decided to launch its own conference on Nov. 27. The event focused on Ukraine’s most promising and vital sectors: agriculture, energy, information technology and finance.
Daniel Bilak, the managing partner of international law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, has been to Adam Smith conferences in London before. He moderated two Kyiv Post Tiger Conference panels and said the events have much in common.
“This is the first shot at doing something at that scale (Adam Smith), so it’s smaller,” he said. “But in terms of format, the quality and the issues that are being raised I think it’s very comparable.”
Bilak was particularly happy with the speakers. “I think they did an excellent job here not just getting locally-based speakers, but they also found people from other countries with different perspectives,” he said.
Some business representatives saw benefits elsewhere.
Karl Robb, president of EPAM in Europe, an IT company, said the Kyiv Post conference was among the few offering an international dimension. “This is a conference which got more of a global audience and it was dealing with some of the issues that are relative to my industry, which is outsourcing,” Robb said.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, chairman of the board Raiffeisen Bank Aval, saw the importance of such business gatherings as social.
“I believe it’s about community development to think again where Ukraine is and should go and that links to business,” Lavrenchuk said. “I see a big need for such conferences in Ukraine where different points of view can be presented on a very high level of speakers,. This morning we’ve seen the government, we’ve seen Georgian President (Mikheil) Saakashvili, (deputy) prime minister from Moldova, and many speakers whose experience and methods are highly appreciated within Ukrainian society.”
Would he participate again? “For sure,” Robb said. “Absolutely,” agreed Bilak.
Kyiv Post staff writer Maryna Irkliyenko can be reached at [email protected].
