Multinational International projects in Europe with the special

Multinational (International) projects in Europe with the special focus on the South Balkans Session Number: EPM 07 Zoran Ljubicic IBM Netherlands

What should be in a presentation…

And… what is in the presentation… • • • Religions Politics Money Technology Men and Women … and no joke…

Easy questions… easy answers!? • Where are the borders of Eastern Europe? • What can we expect when traveling to EE? • How different are Easterners from Westerners? • Is Eastern Europe really progressing? • What do we know about EE projects? • … etc

Introduction - major presentation parts • Overview of Eastern Europe • South Balkans • The major EU-sponsored programmes in the EE

Overview of Eastern Europe • Geopolitical and geographical terms • Cultural quiz • Travel tips • Religions • Common cultural and political traits • Economic overview • Personal touch

Geopolitical and geographical terms • European Union • Acceding countries • Visegrad group • CIS • Baltic countries • Balkans

Eastern Europe

Visegrad, Baltics and Balkans

Cultural quiz • To kiss, bow or shake hands… or do it all!? • To tip or not!? • To deal with facts or with emotions!? • Women approaching unknown men!? • To ask for a word or for a signature? • To discuss history and politics?

Travel tips • Visas • Money • Electricity and video standards • Time zones • Communications • Driving in EE

Major EE religions • Orthodox Christians • Roman Catholics • Muslim • Jewish

Common EE cultural traits • Getting very individualistic • Many people are turning to religion • Large majority with Slavic Origins

Common political traits • Moving towards Western-type democracy • Joining EU

EE Economic overview (1) GDP growth 2004 - 2008 Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

EE Economic overview (2) Comparison 2004 Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

EE Economic overview (3) EE regions 2004 Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

EE Economic overview (3) EE regions 2004 Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

Personal view on the business cultural differences between Netherlands and EE • long-term persistency vs short-term achievements • to-the-point talk vs elaboration • separate work & life vs interconnected • advance planning vs improvisation • getting buy-in vs imposing a decision

South Balkans • South Balkans = Western Balkans – Croatia - Albania - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Serbia & Montenegro - Macedonia

Albania • 3. 1 m. Tirana, Albanian language • Muslims 70%, Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholics 10% • Tensions within the ruling party • Focus on the relationship with the West, especially with the USA • “Node a head to say NO”

Bosnia and Herzegovina • 4. 2 m. Sarajevo, BSC language • Two entities (Federation and Republika Srpska) • Muslims 40%, Orthodox 31%, Roman Catholics 15%, others • Office of the UN High representative • Three-member presidency • Still tensions between entities

Macedonia • 2. 0 m. Skopje, Macedonian language • Orthodox 69%, Muslim 27% • Tensions between Slavic and Albanian ethnic groups • Recent death of the President Boris Trajkovski in a plane crash

Serbia and Montenegro • 10. 7 m. Belgrade, Serbian language (Albanian predominant in Kosovo) • Orthodox 70%, Muslims 20%, the others 10% • Unstable situation in Kosovo • No indicative table for the EU accession

South Balkans Comparison 2003 Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

Major EU-sponsored programmes and their budgets for the period 2000 -2006 • Phare – € 1. 5 billion per year • Sapard - € 500 million per year • ISPA - € 1 billion per year • CARDS - € 4. 65 billion per year • Tacis – n/a

Briefly about the programmes (1) • Provide pre-accession support to the EU candidate countries (acceding countries plus Bulgaria and Romania) - Phare – institution building - ISPA – large-scale infrastructure projects in the fields of agriculture and rural development - Sapard – for taking on the acquis in the fields of agriculture and rural development

Briefly about the programmes (2) • Tacis – provides grant-financed technical assistence to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan). Launched in 1991. • CARDS – assistance to the western Balkans as part of the Stabilization and Association process (SAp)

Useful links related to the programmes • European Union: http: //europa. eu. int/ • European Commission: http: //europa. eu. int/comm/index_en. htm • European bank for reconstruction and development: http: //www. ebrd. com/ • European Investment Bank: www. eib. org • European Agency for reconstruction: http: //www. ear. eu. int/

Summary 1 (answers to the questions) • Where are the borders of Eastern Europe? – This presentation did not help us to define the borders of Eastern Europe – there are ever expanding just like the Universe • What can we expect when traveling to EE? – When traveling to Eastern Europe we can expect to find a good Internet connection… afterwards, everything will be easier • . . etc

Summary 2 (answers to questions) • How different are Easterners from Westerners? – Easterners are getting more similar to Westerners… and opposite way… • Is Eastern Europe really progressing? – Yes, Eastern Europe is progressing towards the Western Europe that is at the moment stagnating… • …etc.

References etc. • Economic figures used in the presentation are retrieved from www. viewswire. com (Economist Intelligence Unit site) • The information on the European programmes in EE collected from the sites listed in the slide #29 • Most of the information has been collected during the author’s involvement in the PMI EU Task Force.

Contact Information Zoran Ljubicic Business e-mail: zoran_ljubicic@nl. ibm. com Private e-mail: ljubicic@planet. nl