Tough Discussions in Tough Times: The 35th Economic Forum Opens in Karpacz

The 35th Economic Forum opens in Karpacz on Tuesday with a message shaped by instability: “Architecture of a New Order: Stability in Times of Change.” The event will bring together discussions on business, artificial intelligence, taxes, the energy transition, climate change, demographics, migration, geopolitics, and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The forum’s traditional opening will feature a report prepared by the Warsaw School of Economics and the Economic Forum. Since 2018, the publication has examined the main economic and social processes affecting Poland and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, according to Zygmunt Berdychowski, chairman of the forum’s Program Council.

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Today everyone can see that the rapid globalization that accompanied us in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century has come to an end because of the pandemic, geopolitical changes, and the war in Ukraine.

This year’s second major study focuses on supply-chain security in Poland’s defense industry. Six leading Polish universities prepared the report, with the Economic Forum Foundation coordinating their work.

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Europe must take part in this revolution.

Berdychowski argues that the rapid globalization associated with the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century has ended because of the pandemic, geopolitical changes, and the war in Ukraine. In his view, industry must return to Europe not only to create jobs, but also to strengthen security.

He says Europe has so far watched the technological revolution unfolding in the United States and China from the sidelines. Europe now needs to take part in that transformation while ensuring stability and limiting its social costs. The forum chairman also stresses the need to make private companies genuine partners for the state in solving economic problems. He says businesses attending the forum, from large corporations to family-owned, medium-sized, and smaller firms, expect the state to recognize them as an effective way to modernize the economy and accelerate GDP growth. “It was thanks to them that Poland achieved its remarkable success after 1989, and therefore we must once again make clear to Europe that there is no other path to development,” Berdychowski says.

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It was thanks to them that Poland achieved its remarkable success after 1989, and therefore we must once again make clear to Europe that there is no other path to development.