PANEL SPEAKERS

Prof. Dr. Harvey Goldstein

Dean of the Public Governance and Management Program, MODUL University Vienna

ABOUT
Harvey Goldstein is a Professor and Director of the Program in Public Governance and Management. Professor Goldstein spent the previous 26 years in the U.S. on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of City and Regional Planning, where he directed the department’s Ph.D. program for 15 years. He has also served on the faculty of Columbia University and as a Guest Professor in the 1980s and a Fulbright Senior Scholar in 2000 at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.
Dr. Goldstein’s principal research and teaching interests include regional and local economic development planning and management, the role of knowledge-based institutions in the governance and development of regions, research and evaluation methods, as well as research design. He has also done extensive work in the area of regional labor market analysis and economic forecasting. Professor Goldstein has served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, the International Labor Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the World Bank, the U.S.Agency for International Development, and a number of state and local government organizations in the U.S.

TOPICS

• Why is good governance important for economic development?
• The critical elements of good governance
• Special role of higher education institutions in promoting good governance

H.E. Samuel Zbogar

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia

ABOUT
In his 22 years as a diplomat he was included in all major political projects of Slovenian foreign policy. Between 2004 and 2008 he was Ambassador to the USA in Washington.
As State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2001 and 2004 he supported the strengthening of the humanitarian aspect of foreign policy and led the project group for the preparation of Slovenia’s OSCE Presidency. He was also a member of the EU membership negotiation group and the main negotiator for NATO membership.
Between 1997 and 2001 he was Deputy Ambassador to the UN and the Deputy of Slovenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council during Slovenia’s elected membership in 1998 and 1999.
He opened the Slovenian Embassy in Beijing, where he worked from 1993 to 1995. After returning from Washington in October 2008 he became the Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Ljubljana.

TOPICS

• Importance of transparency and rule of law
• Setting regional priorities for growth
• Slovenia as an economic example

Prof. Dr. Miomir Zuzul

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia 2003 – 2005
President of Dubrovnik International University

ABOUT
Prof. Dr. Zuzul has an extensive political and diplomatic career. In 1992 he became Deputy Foreign Minister of Croatia and from 1993 to 1996 served as the Croatian Ambassador to the UN.
In 1996 he was appointed as the Croatian Ambassador to the United States. Prof. Dr. Zuzul served as the Croatian Foreign Minister from 2004 to 2006, advancing the nations prospects for eU and NATO membership. In 2005 he was appointed to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in europe’s (OSCE) Panel of Eminent Persons, and was made the Chairman of the OSCEs personal representative to Georgia in 2007.
Prof. Dr. Zuzul holds two doctorates, one in Psychology from the University of Zagreb and one in Conflict Management from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

TOPICS

• Importance of regional economic growth
• Importance of regional cooperation
• Croatia as an economic example

Prof. Dr. Mica Jovanovic

Rector of Megatrend University in Belgrade since 1999

ABOUT
Prof. Dr. Mica Jovanovic is the Rector of Megatrend University in Belgrade since 1999. Between 1983 and 1989, he was a visiting professor at many foreign universities such as London School of Economics and the University of Tokyo, and served as a research team member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Prof. Dr. Jovanovic has been awarded the title of Knight of British Order of the Fleur de Lus. He is the winner of the Cultural and Educational Community of Belgrade for the book “Intercultural Management”. For the excellent results in business undertakings, educational projects and contribution to society, he was officially nominated for “the Businessman of the Year” – positioning himself among the most successful businessmen in Serbia.
In 2006, he was awarded “the Golden Link” for the continuous contribution to Belgrade culture. Prof. Dr. Jovanovic has been the author of over 80 scientific and professional works published internationally and several books, amongst them “Self-Management Sociology” (1980), “Intercultural Management” (2001), “Business as the Style of Life” (2006).

TOPICS

• The role of higher education in good governance
• Regional economic examples

Mike Zafirovski

American-Macedonian Executive
Formerly in CEO and COO posts at GE, Motorola and Nortel

ABOUT
Mike Zafirovski is a 35-year business veteran who served as President and Ceo of nortel, a global communications technology company; President and Coo of Motorola and its six separate multi-billion dollar technology and communications businesses; and within a 25 year career at GE, he served as the President and CEO of five GE businesses in the consumer, industrial and financial services arenas. He is known for his operational execution, vision, and passionate, principled leadership of companies renowned for game-changing innovation, intense customer focus and leadership development.
A native of Macedonia, he received the Ellis IslandMedal of Honor in 2004. In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Zafirovski to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC). He also serves on the board of directors of Boeing and is involved in a number of not-for-profi t organizations, including “Macedonia 2025”, whose aim is to help build a stronger Macedonia by encouraging economic development, entrepreneurship, transparent government and corporate practices, education and the rule of law.

TOPICS

• Good governance as key for success of nations, companies and civil society
• Responsibilities of political and business leaders

General Wesley K. Clark

Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO 1997 – 2000

ABOUT
Wesley Kanne Clark is the former U.S. Army general who ran as a Democratic candidate for the presidency in the 2004 election. Clark grew up in little Rock, arkansas and, at the age of 16, started at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated first in his class. He also earned a graduate degree as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and commanded fighting troops in Vietnam, where he was injured three times.
During the ’80s and ’90s he moved up the military ladder and served as an administrator in training and command posts, eventually becoming a four-star general.
In 1997 he was named as the U.S. commander of NATO forces in Europe by President Bill Clinton. In 2000 he retired after 34 years in the army.
General Clark entered the private sector as an author, consultant and investment banker, a highly decorated soldier and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

TOPICS

• Improving public confidence in government in the Balkans
• Deepening economic growth
  Bosnia at a decisive point?

H.E. Bakir Izetbegovic

Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABOUT
President Bakir Izetbegovic was elected to a four-year term as the Bosnian Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 3, 2010 and was sworn into office on November 10, 2010.
Prior to his election to the Presidency, President Izetbegovic served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2010 and was the head of the delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. President Izetbegovic also served as a member of the House of Representative of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2006 and was a member of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly from 2000 to 2002.
President Izetbegovic was born in 1956 and graduated from the Faculty of architecture at the University of Sarajevo in 1981.

TOPICS

• Bosnia and Herzegovina – three peoples, one state
• Western Balkans EU perspective(s)
• South East Europe – Cradle of interreligious dialogue?

H.E. Edmond Haxhinasto

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Albania

ABOUT
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Haxhinasto began his political career as Head of Foreign Relations at the Parliament of the Republic of Albania from 1991 to 1992. Starting from 1993 to 1997 Mr. Haxhinasto was engaged in the private sector.
From 1997 until 1999 he served at the offi ce of the Prime Minister as Head of Coordination Department. He was also Government Representative for the Emergency Management Group set up to manage the situation of Kosovian refugees in Albania. In 1998, he assumed as Chair of the Anti-Corruption Monitoring Group in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Government’s plan to combat corruption. He served as Diplomatic Advisor to the Prime Minister, and from 2001 he was appointed as Charge d’ Affairs at the Albanian Embassy in Belgrade.
From August 2002 he worked as Chief of Cabinet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Haxhinasto was Advisor to Mr. Ilir Meta, in his capacity as Member of the International Commission on the Balkans. In February 2004, he became Co-Founder of the Institute for Peace, Development and Integration.

TOPICS

• Role of outsiders: OSCE, UN, OHR, NATO
• Inter-religious dialogue
• Importance of solving border issues

Jovan Kovacic

Chief Executiver Officer of Global Communications Associates Ltd.

ABOUT
Jovan Kovacic was a translator to the late Yugoslav President Tito and after his death, Jovan moved to Yugoslav news agency Tanjug where he was engaged as a war correspondent across the globe working for CNN, ABC, NPR, BBC and other major media outlets.
In 1998 Jovan moved on from reporting into the office of the High Representative to Bosnia (OHR) where he was in charge of one of the most sensitive aspects of the IC work – reconstruction and negotiating and facilitating the safe return of thousands of refugees and displaced persons in Bosnia. Three years later he joined OSCE in Belgrade as a Media Development Advisor.
Jovan is the founder of GCA Global Communications Associates, which is designed to help Serbian companies and political entities establish better working relationships with Euro-Atlantic structures and viceversa.
Jovan is also a member of the Circle of Forty, and is actively engaged in several professional associations in Serbia. Currently, he is the Vice President of Serbian Society of Lobbyists and is actively involved in the process of enactment of the Bill on Lobbying.

TOPICS

• Regional transition
• Importance of regional stability and security
• Signifi cance of regional cooperation and economic growth

Dr. Walter Schwimmer

Vice President of the CGDC
Secretary General of the Council of Europe 1999 – 2004

ABOUT
Dr. Schwimmer is an Austrian politician from the Austrian People’s Party, a Christian democratic and conservative party. The holder of a doctorate in law was a member of the Austrian National Assembly from 1971 to 1999 and from 1999 to 2004 he was Secretary General of the Council of europe. From 1984 to 1999 he was Executive Vice President of the Wiener Gebietskrankenkasse, the compulsory health insurance system of Vienna.
Dr. Schwimmer is currently working as an advisor in international relations and other European topics both for governments and for companies. He is also involved with the dialogue between cultures on a voluntary basis. For example, he is Secretary General of the Maison de la Méditerranée-Fondazione Mediterraneo in Naples, Chairman of the International Coordinating Committee of the “World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations”, President of the European Democracy Forum in Strassburg and most recently has become President of the Megatrend University in Belgrade.

TOPICS

• Importance of stability and security in South-Eastern Europe
• Economic theories of the past fostered autarky and growing wealth at the cost of others
• Freedom of movement as a source of stability and security