The first international “Visegrad 4 Business” conference was held in Bratislava on October 13. More than 200 entrepreneurs, government representatives and experts from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary attended. Their aim was to discuss current economic issues such as the energy crisis, post-pandemic recovery, the war in Ukraine, and the internationalisation of the Visegrad Group.
Current business challenges were discussed
The V4 conference created a platform for panel discussions that addressed the biggest challenges of the current business environment.
One of them was the discussion on “Post-pandemic recovery and changes to the global economy”. The pandemic was a challenge for everyone, including businesses. It has affected the services sector, changed customer demand for products and resulted in a significant recovery in the second half of 2021, coupled with difficulties in global supply chains. However, many businesses have been able to turn these challenges into opportunities and find valuable lessons in them.
Copyright: Visegrad 4 Business
The recovery from the pandemic was disrupted by the war in Ukraine. Economies are suffering the consequences of dependence on Russian energy. Companies are facing soaring costs, households are coping with rising living costs, and consumer and business confidence is weakened. The consequences of the war have changed the business strategies and planning of many enterprises.
The discussion was also attended by Jaroslav Mervart, CEO of Chemosvit Group and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, together with Tomáš Kolář, CEO of Linet, Vazil Hudák, Member of the Board of Directors of Budapest Airport, and Jan Rýpar, General Manager at PKO Bank Polski Czech Branch.
Copyright: Visegrad 4 Business
The conference resulted in a declaration
The business associations organising the Visegrad 4 Business conference have jointly signed a declaration calling for the use of all instruments to support the economies of the Visegrad Four countries.
The conference proved that the cooperation of the countries will continue despite the current period and different opinions of the V4 governments on some issues. It also showed that discussion on difficult topics is possible not only at the government level, but also between people – representatives of the state, the private sector and financial institutions – and that their common goal is to find solutions.