OSCE to hold conference on effects of globalization

VIENNA, 1 July 2003 - Benefits, risks and challenges of globalization will be the focus of a two-day international conference to be held by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the Vienna Hofburg Conference Centre on 3 and 4 July.

Around 200 participants from international organizations and expert speakers will discuss issues such as the role of good governance in the public and private sectors, transition to market economy and countering environmental degradation in the context of globalization.

Media representatives are invited to attend both the opening and closing sessions of the event, which will begin respectively on 3 July at 10.00 and on 4 July at 14.30.

The event will be opened by the Conference's chairman, Ambassador Frans Engering, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Marcin Swiciecki, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Maria Livanos Cattaui, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce and Dariusz Rosati, professor of international economics at the Warsaw School of Economics and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

The Hofburg Congress Centre is accessible from 9.30 a.m. to journalists accredited to the OSCE. Short-term accreditation for the event is also available on production of an Austrian or other recognized press card. Entrance to the Hofburg is from the Heldenplatz.

Advance background information and speeches will be posted on a special conference website, as and when these become available.