Fostering Cooperation between ICPE and ICIE

Mr Janez Podobnik, ICPE Acting Director General visited Kazakhstan between 27 – 29 March 2013. He was invited to the ICIE Council Presidium session as well as to the International Conference, titled "Experience and problems of investments and financial-banking support activities of Industrialists and entrepreneurs in the Eurasian economic space", both held in Almaty, Kazakhstan most populated city.

The invitation to both events confirmed the right decision by ICPE management to sign an MoU at the last ICIE Council session, held in October 2012 in Kaliningrad. While in Almaty Mr Podobnik was also nominated for a member of the ICIE Presidium.

At the International Conference, which followed the session of the ICIE Presidium on 28 March, ADG Podobnik presented ICPE's activities as a platform to promote enterpreneurship, especially from the aspect of business internationalisation.

The participants were in favour of Mr Podobnik's initiative to organize an international conference, titled "Advantages of Public-Private Partnerships For improving Energy Efficiency," most likely in November 2013 in Bled, Slovenia, together with ICIE partners. The conference will be based on the innovative platform approach, where participants will be able to exchange feasible projects in the field of energy efficiency to investors from Europe and Eurasia. At the same time there will be opportunities for high level businessmen from ICPE Member States and active investors from almost 30 countries of the ICIE Congress to hold meetings.

Mr Podobnik also presented the ongoing preparation of the new ICPE educational consultancy project, intented for entrepreneurs especially in Russia. The overall aim of the programme is to educate and train enterprises and other business subjects after Russia's accession to WTO. Slovenia is a WTO member state since 1995 and has interesting and relevant experiences. Much effort will be incorporated into this project from the logistic point of view, technological approaches, such as e-learning, distance learning as well as the content.

ICPE will form a special working group for this task, which will prepare the basic solutions by May 2013 and then deliberate it with the ICIE management.

Mr Podobnik, while in Almaty, also used the opportunity to meet representatives of some Kazakhstan Enterprises as well as some universities and research institutes in Astana and Almaty, where new possibilities of cooperation with ICPE emerged.