With his attendance at the European Consumer Summit 2024 last week, the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, concluded his intensive four-day visit to Brussels, where he also attended the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF 2024), the International conference of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE), as well as numerous other meetings.

As Belgium is holding the EU Council presidency, Brussels is playing host to numerous ministerial meetings and high-profile events this week, with the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, attending as many as three of them: the European Consumer Summit 2024, the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF 2024), and the International conference of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE). He arrived in Brussels as early as Tuesday and met with some of the participants of these events, and has been actively involved in the high-intensity developments in Brussels both yesterday and today.  

A day-long meeting of the Expert Advisory Group of the Financial Services User Group at the European Commission (FSUG), a member of which is also the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, took place last Thursday, with active participation of the European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Ms. Mairead McGuinness. She received several questions from the FSUG members covering the most pressing issues regarding the consumers and retail investors, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises in the context of financial services.

Last Thursday and Friday, the University of Florence, its Department of Legal Sciences, and Harvard Law School Association – sponsored by the Italian National Forensic Science Institute – organized the fourth International Law Conference ‘Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus & its socio-economic implications: what lies ahead?’. The Nexus approach is a concept that addresses the challenges of sustainable development in a comprehensive manner, taking into account several variables simultaneously, and emphasizes the interdependence of water, energy and food security, as well as the ecosystems that support this security. The high-profile conference featured many prestigious international institutions, including the Stanford Law School, the University of Cambridge, the Beijing University, the Universidade de Brasilia, the European Court of Justice, the European Central Bank, and the NYC Bar Association.

The official program of the Slovenian economic delegation accompanying the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Nataša Pirc Musar, on the occasion of her official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria, is taking place today in Sofia. The guests at the Bulgaria-Slovenia business forum were, alongside the President of the Republic of Slovenia, addressed by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Rumen Radev, as well as the directors of government agencies of both countries for promoting investments, SPIRIT Slovenija and BSMEPA, Mr. Rok Capl and Mr. Boyko Takov respectively. This will be followed by the presentations of both business environments and B2B talks. 

Prior to today’s meeting of the European ministers of economy and finance (ECOFIN) - one of the most important European Think Tanks (EUROFI) - that always takes place in the presiding country of the Council of the EU began yesterday in Ghent, Belgium. The 900 invited participants were also joined by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, who arrived in Belgium as early as Monday, and used this time for several bilateral talks, including with the honorary President and former Secretary General of the World Federation of Investors (WFI), Mr. Jean-Pierre Paelinck, as well as with the Managing Director of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE), Aleksandra Mączyńska.

Following the recent end of the January tour of the VZMD's international business-investor programs: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors` Network - investo.international, with the visits of Miami, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos, on Monday, the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, will visit Belgium, which is currently holding the Presidency of the EU Council. In this intensive week he will attend the financial forum EUROFI, the meeting of the Expert Advisory Group of the Financial Services User Group at the European Commission (FSUG), which he is a member of, and numerous other meetings. After that he will head to Sofia to join the economic delegation, which will accompany the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Nataša Pirc Musar, on the occasion of her official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria.

The end of last week, Texas, USA, saw the end of the official program of the economic delegation "Texas feels Slovenia" visit to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos, where the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, also actively participated. The visit was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce – AmCham Slovenia and SPIRIT Slovenia. Near the capital city of Austin, the members of delegation visited the electric vehicle factory TESLA Giga Factory, the largest factory in the world by floor area, where the futuristic vehicle Cybertruck is made. Before that, they visited the headquarters of the global technology company DELL, where they were received by John L. Howard Jr., the Director of Government Affairs and former counselor to the US President George Bush Jr. At the umbrella Texas chamber of commerce (TAB) another business forum "Texas Feels Slovenia" took place. The Slovenian delegation was received by its President Glenn Hamer, the President of the European-American Chamber of Commerce, Erin McKelveym, and the CEO of Tech Ranch, Kevin Koym.

Yesterday, Dallas, Texas, saw the beginning of the official part of the week-long visit by the Slovene economic delegation, which was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Slovenia) and SPIRIT Slovenia under the title "Texas feels Slovenia". On Sunday, the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, who is also a member of the delegation, had already attended an informal meeting of the members of the delegation with His Excellency Iztok Mirošič, the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United States of America in Washington, Ajša Vodnik, the CEO of AmCham Slovenia and the President of AmCham Europe, Sandra Pratt Wilkens, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Slovenia in Houston, and many others. Delegation consists of 24 members: the representatives of various institutions as well as the representatives of eight innovative Slovene companies.

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The General Assembly and meeting of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) took place this week in Brussels. Both meetings – which followed the recent meeting and the International Investor Conference in Vienna (VIDEO: https://youtu.be/RyyZho0QVlM) – were actively attended also by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, as a member of the Executive Board.

The COP28 Climate Change Conference organized by the UNITED NATIONS started yesterday in Dubai. This main global conference is attended by prominent representatives of the countries and organizations from around the world. The main focus of this year's conference is the progress of the countries towards achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which was also attended by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič. The green transition has significant financial implications, which is why the Financial Services User Group (FSUG) at the European Commission, a member of which is also Mr. Verbič, published a statement on key issues to be addressed by the COP28. The statement issued yesterday was discussed by the FSUG at the end of last week and after their meeting in Brussels, where they supported the efforts to limit the global warming, and highlighted that the negotiations should improve upon the global progress and encourage investments into green technologies.