Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan will open the ninth Yalta Annual Meeting, entitled "Ukraine and the World: Overcoming Tomorrow’s Challenges Together," which will take place at the Livadia Palace in Yalta from September 13 to September 16.
The meeting is organized by the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.
During the meeting, over 2000 leaders from politics, business and society representing more than 20 countries will discuss major global challenges and their impact on Europe, Ukraine and the world.
On September 14, President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan will open the plenary part of the 9th YES Annual Meeting by addressing participants of the gathering. The two leaders will discuss current issues affecting the development of Ukraine and Turkey, as well as the future of a “Wider Europe” in the 21st century. Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995-2005) and Chairman of the YES Board, will moderate the discussion.
The main topic of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting will be the key transformations that are already shaping the future of the world. Forum sessions will focus on the future of the world economy, on a new world order and its security, and on possible models for the development of capitalism. Special attention will be paid to the role of innovations and leadership in transforming the economy and society. Other topics for discussion will cover the future of the European Union, energy issues and the internal and external challenges facing Ukraine.
This year’s Yalta Annual Meeting will welcome former President of the World Bank (2007-2012) Robert Zoellick; former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (2007-2011) Dominique Strauss-Kahn; former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation (2000-2011) Alexei Kudrin; EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule; Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations (2001-2007); member of the Indian Parliament Shashi Tharoor; founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab Eugene Kaspersky, Senior Advisor on Innovation to the U.S. Secretary of State Alec Ross; President and Founder of the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University Eric Lander; Vice Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov; Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt; and EU High Representative for CFSR (1999-2009) Javier Solana.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, First Deputy Premier of Ukraine Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, Deputy Prime Minister and Social Policy Minister Sergiy Tigipko, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko, Secretary of the National Defence and Security Council of Ukraine Andriy Kliuyev will represent Ukraine at the plenary discussions of the 9th YES Annual Meeting.
For the first time in the history of the YES Annual Meetings, an interactive lunch format will be introduced, during which event participants will be able to prepare questions for the key speakers. A lunch discussion of the forthcoming presidential elections in the United States will take place on September 14, and an interactive lunch “The Future of Russia” will be held the following day, September 15.
Continuing to engage Ukrainian youth in the global debate within the Yalta Annual Meetings, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation again invited 50 scholarship holders of Zavtra.UA and WorldWideStudies programs that were selected through an open competition from over 1,000 candidates all over Ukraine. Ukrainian students and young professionals will be able to follow the work of the forum and interact with its key speakers.
Chrystia Freeland, Digital Editor at Thomson-Reuters, will moderate discussions.
The 9th Yalta Annual Meeting will be streamed live on korrespondent.net in Ukrainian and on euronews.com and yes-ukraine.org in English.
The official Twitter of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting: @yes_ukraine. Hash tag: #yalta2012
