As the world faces enormous transposition of the economic, political, and environmental world order, Hungary seeks a golden opportunity to act as a bridge which fuses the two diverse continents of Asia and Europe. On the 19th and 20th of September, Budapest hosted internationally esteemed speakers and participants to discuss exactly such opportunities.
The Budapest Eurasia Forum 2022 is the fourth conference as part of the annual conference series initiated by the Hungarian National Bank, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB), in 2019. This time, the conference, themed "Sustainable Growth and Cooperation - How to Win the 21st Century?", discussed various topics centered around the capabilities of enterprises to ride the wave of technological and environmental change. IIASA has maintained a partnership with the conference since 2021.
The hybrid event kicked off with opening remarks delivered by György H Matolcsy, Governor of MNB, and over the span of two days, it welcomed renowned academics and experts such as Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University; Arturo Bris, Director of the Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Center; and Shamshad Akhtar, Former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and Former Caretaker at Finance Minister of Pakistan.
Elena Rovenskaya moderated a panel discussion of the conference on international cooperation and economic integration, titled "Regional and megaregional integrations: How can international cooperation serve competitiveness of the supercontinent?". She interviewed esteemed panelists on the current megatrends of digitalization, relocation of production, and decarbonization; their impact on corporations and inversely, the impact of corporations on these mega trends. This was followed by purposeful discussions on Eurasian integration through global alliances such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the European Union (EU), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Topics around protectionist attitudes, non-inclusive alliances, and regional divides were raised. These questions were previously addressed in ASA's project "Challenges and Opportunities of Economic Integration in Eurasian and Wider European Space" conducted by IIASA from 2014 until 2019.
Overall, the conference provided an excellent environment for reflection on the key trends which are shaping the decisions of private enterprises and governments. It consolidated that the changing tides in multilateral relations will provide pivotal momentum for the future of CEE on the international stage.
