OSCE Economic Forum to discuss regional economic co-operation

PRAGUE, 5 June 1995 - The Third Meeting of the OSCE Economic Forum will convene on 7-9 June at the Czernin Palace in Prague. The first plenary session is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, 7 June, at 10 a.m. with an address by Mr. Karel Dyba, Minister of Economy of the Czech Republic.

A press briefing is scheduled on Wednesday, 7 June at 9:00 a.m. with the representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Hungarian Deputy Foreign Minister André Erdös; the Head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry's Department for Economic and Scientific Co-operation István Mohácsi and Chairman of the Economic Forum Márton Krasznai. All interested journalists are invited to attend.

Press representatives will be able to attend the opening and closing meetings of the Economic Forum. There will be short photo opportunity at the beginning of each plenary meeting. A concluding press briefing will be held on 9 June at 12 a.m. at Czernin Palace. Other briefings will be scheduled as necessary.

Representatives from UN/ECE, UNDP, OECD, ICC, EBRD, EIB, IBRD, IMF, and Council of Europe have been invited to attend and make contributions to, the Economic Forum. Invitations have been extended to Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Morocco and Tunisia as OSCE non-participating Mediterranean States, as well as to the Commonwealth of Independent States, Black Sea Economic Co-operation, Council of Baltic Sea States, Barents Euro-Arctic Council, CEFTA and Central European Initiative as regional groupings.

The Prague Meeting of the OSCE Council of Ministers held in January 1992 agreed to establish the Economic Forum as part of the efforts to strengthen the focus of OSCE on the transition to, and development of, free-market economies as an essential contribution to the building of democracy. As directed by the Budapest Summit meeting the Economic Forum remains the main venue for discussion on economic dimension issues. The First Meeting of the Forum was held in March 1993. The Second Meeting of the Forum was held in March 1994. It is expected that the Third Meeting of the Economic Forum will discuss issues related to the transition process with particular focus on regional economic co-operation in the fields of trade, investment and infrastructure.

NGO/Press accreditation can be obtained by showing working identification at the accreditation desk at the entrance of Czernin Palace,

Address: Palace CzerninLoretanske namesti 5, Prague 1Tel. (+42-2) 2431 0971 or 2431 0969Fax. (+42-2) 2431 0970.