Balkonnect Festival 2025 - B2B Matchmaking Event

This sector is among the most prominent and rapidly developed in the Western Balkans region. It is also the most common leading industries among the countries of WB. Beside it, it is a sector that brought innovation, large investment, attractive financing instruments, and WOOD-METAL CONSTRUCTION INNOVATIVE TRANSFORMATION AND R&D-BASED CHALLENGES (day I-morning session) showed the stable International-WB business growing partnership.

In addition, this sector is among the most dynamic exporting segment to EU, serving as living and generating linkage too. Of course, beside heavy investment, it gathers the largest employment statistics too. Its contribution to the overall economic growth and welfare is huge. This sector not only is reshaping the region’s landscape, it is also, contributing to the capital growth and raising foreign direct investment permanently.

The key speakers of this session are the key sectorial players from the business ecosystem, who will show-case their distinguishing business innovation mindset, transformation skills, the power of investment and healthy perspective ahead. The key selected segment from this industry will present the reflection of Western Balkans ownership on a very strong instrument of stabilisation, internationalisation and know-how transfer. Their link to R&D&I and business spirit installed brought it as a flourishing dimension of transformation and well-being.

The tourism-agri-food-processing industry represent a highly vibrant multiply dimension of private sector advance improvements. The diversity of this industry is a lot differentiating from country to country and has got, also various specifics. Albania is the leading country in a TOURISM AGRI-FOOD PROCESSING INNOVATION SUSTAINABILITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH (day I-afternoon session) more complex and meaningful tourism, while Serbia and North Macedonia are very strong on agri-food-processing. Montenegro is building its summer tourism identity, either with massive low-price offers and or class summer tourism offer too. Kosovo and Bosnia and Hercegovina are a lot, involving on agro-production, while consolidating the winter and rural tourism, including cultural heritage too. Exploiting biodiversity protection, restauration of eco-system remains a huge potential and applying bigdata, machine learning and AI tool a long with high international recognition tourism standards and certifications. The key speakers will demonstration the new formatting intervention of this industry, how innovative solutions can make changes and promoting transnational good-practices and linkages are the way ahead. The focus of this session will be to valorise the cross-sectorial multiple benefits and proof the green and digital transition to the coming financing models and healthy perspective.

The Western Balkans Green Agenda promotes the transition from a traditional economic model to a sustainable innovative economy, aligning to the European Green Deal. Some of the priorities are: aligning the region with the EU’s 2050 ambition; making the Europe a carbon neutral zone; unlock the SESSION III potential of circular economy; fight pollution of air, water a soil, promote sustainable methods of food production and supply, and exploit the huge RENEWABLE & GREEN A TRANSFORMED AND AUTOMATED GROWTH ECOSYSTEM (day I-afternoon session) biosecurity and AI tools. The EU's Growth Plan for the Western Balkans (through the Reform and Growth Facility # 6 Billion €) offers partial access to the EU single market for countries like Kosovo, contingent upon the implementation of significant reforms. This access incentivizes private sector entities to align with EU environmental standards, enhancing their competitiveness in both regional and European markets. The EU’s Growth Plan offers a combination of new financing opportunities and early access to selected aspects of the single market. An expansion of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) to some of the Western Balkan countries in 2025 would help support market integration and remove barriers to financial flows. The Reform Agendas focus on the reforms in the priority areas of rule of law and other fundamentals, governance, the digital and Green Transition, human capital development and the business environment. The key speakers covering this session will come from successful business investment stories, demonstrating the differentiating interventions undertaken in these sectors, building on EU’s model investments in a conducive business environment and resilient market system. The EU4Green programme, the EBRD Green Economy Financing Facility and WB Fiscal Policy and Green Growth Reforms are the latest instruments that determined the developing growth of renewable and green industry.

The recent exceptional achieved developments in the ICT and Digital sector in the Western Balkans, boosted growth and profitability, it boasted skilled SESSION IV workforce, competitiveness, strong infrastructure and enticing incentives, making the region an ideal zone for innovative investors and business partnership. It is thew main driver of economic growth and has become the most encouraging filed of foreign investments, especially for finance capitals and world class brands. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) landscape is ICT AND DIGITAL: THE EVOLUTION OF SAAS AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES (day II-morning session) undergoing significant transformations, influenced by advancements in various emerging technologies. Some of the key drivers are: Integration of AI and ML, Rise of vertical SaaS Solutions, Enhanced security and compliances, expansion of micro-SaaS ventures, Growth of edge computing Integration etc. Most of the WB-based ICT and Digital companies are outsourcing their services to the globally top businesses and exporting of ICT and Digital services covers most of the available capacities of operating businesses. In addition, the flow of innovative start-ups in this sector is tremendously attractive due to the available resources, infrastructure and well-education workforce. Connectivity has been among the leading intervention, resulting to, for example, making Kosovo the top internet coverage countries in Europe (99 %). 5G and Artificial Intelligence promoted are shaping the region into a new attractive hub, linking the region globally. E-payment and e-services are also heavily contributing to the digital economy. The Key speakers of the ICT and Digital session seeks to showcase the trendy innovation solutions, the interconnection to other interdisciplinary industries and the increased vast impact to the society, digital transformation, youth development and welfare of the population. It is also among the key sectors to decrease the migration and improve the education approach, health progress, manufacturing and engineering achievements and green transition too.

The transformed and automated industrial growth, globalisation, the increasing costs of operations, transport, management, difficulties in resilient, sustainability, the increasing costs of R&D&I, the increasing time-efficiency SESSION V requirements, the ability to align to legal framework and be fast, byrocracy issues etc, makes the outsourcing a highly relevant developing tool to build not only cross-border ties by transnational healthy and attractive building block of partnership. The Western Balkans outsourcing industry has been gaining traction in international business markets due to its strategic location, skilled OUTSOURCING INDUSTRY- THE HIGH-TECH AND MANUFACTURING COMPETITIVE HUB (day II-morning session) workforce, and cost-effectiveness, thus, becoming attractive destinations for IT services, business process outsourcing (BPO), and nearshoring. The Western Balkans is an increasingly attractive destination for EU manufacturing outsourcing due to its cost advantages, geographic advantages, improved logistics and transport networks, proximity, trade agreements, and skilled workforce. With continued investment in infrastructure and stability, the region is poised to become a key part of the European supply chain. Some of the highly potential sectors are wood and metal processing, construction, automotive and spare parts, textiles and apparel, electronics and machinery, The Western Balkans SMEs are smaller, dynamic, fast-learning, quickly responding, easy to negotiate and cheaper in service-product provision and efficient-delivery. Outsourcing is the best solution for small, quick and low budget market needs. The key speakers of this session seek to transmit new, well-performing practices, successful showcase models, the tailored transformation to rational, modern and efficient industry and the vision to international competitiveness and quality of service-product provision. This industry, probably, demonstrates the best how innovative solution are proved to make differences.

The improved electronic services have dramatically enhanced the security and operational efficiency within the banking and finance sector, they have BANKING & FINANCE THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ON SECURITY, EFFICIENCY AND TRUST IN BANKING AND FINANCE (day II-afternoon session) also highlighted the importance of building trust in digital transaction as an essential for fostering long-lasting relationships with their clientele. The digital transformation plays a pivotal role on finance and banking, it showed how innovative solutions enhanced the efficiency, accessibility and security of f inancial services across the board. The integration of eIDAS-accredited services is not just a trend; it is a necessity for our sector. These services promise to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and foster trust in digital transactions. The invited key speakers will discuss about the impact of eIDAS-Accredited Services, including Digital Identity Wallet on Digital Economy and the future of Payments. They will be focusing on customer satisfacion, streamlining operations,, and the critical role of trust and security in digital transactions.