On the first day of the Forum, guests were able to take part in three discussion panels on economic support of the EU, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the United States for Belarus and relocating and new Belarusian businesses.
Rector of EHU, prof. Sergei Ignatov opened the Forum and addressed the guests of the event: “Today’s event is another evidence of the special role of Lithuania as a host country not only for Belarusian civil society, the scientific community, but also, as we see today in this hall, the business community”.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya noted: “Some people believe that business is about money. Business is about people. Behind every successful company is a person or group of people. Many of them continue to work in Belarus, despite all obstacles. Many had to flee and start from scratch in the new country. For many, the choice was made for them. They had to protect their employees, their teams and their families”.
The guests of the Forum had the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers and get a pool of contacts of organizations that provide versatile support to the business community.
At the end of the first day of the Forum, Alina Koushyk, co-founder of the Center for Belarusian Solidarity, presented the BY-MAPKA project, which brings together representatives of the Belarusian community and business in various cities around the world.
The second day of the Forum was held on February 23, aimed at highlighting the practical aspects of starting a business or relocation and opportunities for cooperation.
Representatives of Belarusian businesses introduced the companies and spoke about the cultural, financial and technical aspects of starting a business in Lithuania; about the problems they faced and about ways to solve them. Current IT projects which will be able to unite Belarusians around the world were presented as well.
Vadim Prokopyev addressed the Belarusian business with the words: “All we have to do after the victory is to make the businesses that have been relocated to return to the country. To a country with a strong private export-oriented economy integrated into the world community. The new Belarus has a chance to take off economically and it does not need cheap gas to do that”.
Psychological aspects of business relocation, such as: loss of social identity, financial stability, the problem of self-identification, hanging in the status of “temporary”, guilt were discussed on the Forum.
Both days of the Forum continued with networking, aimed at further acquaintance and exchange of contacts between participants.
You can get acquainted with the detailed program of the first and second days of the Forum and its speakers via the link.
The Forum was organized by the Association of Belarusian Business Abroad (ABBA) in general partnership with the European Humanities University under the patronage of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
