Multinational (International) projects in Europe with the special

focus on the South BalkansSession Number: EPM07

Zoran LjubicicIBM 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

GDP growth 2004 - 2008

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

US

Japan

EU

EE

Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

EE Economic overview (2)

Comparison 2004

Comparison 2004

050

100150200250300350400

GDP/head index

population in mil

Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

EE Economic overview (3)

EE regions 2004

Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

EE regions 2004

0

50

100

150

200

Balkans Visegrad CIS (w/oRussia)

Russia0100200300400500600

population (mill)

GDP(US$ bil)

EE Economic overview (3)

EE regions 2004

Figures provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit

Overall risk

01020304050607080

Overall risk

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

• 3.1m. 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

• 4.2m. 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

• 2.0m. 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

• 10.7m. 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

South Balkans - comparison 2003

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Albania BiH Macedonia S&M0

5

10

15

20

25

Population (mill)

GDP(US$ bil)

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 LjubicicBusiness e-mail:zoran_ljubicic@nl.ibm.comPrivate e-mail: ljubicic@planet.nl