CEOs, politicians and world-class experts at Polityka Insight conference

Key points

Polityka Insight’s flagship conference. For the third time, over 350 people from the world of business, diplomacy and politics will meet at the annual Risk and Trends 2018 conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Warsaw on February 5. Leading experts from Europe and the US will devote the day to discussing the opportunities and threats the new year brings. The topic of the first part of the conference will be global risks and trends; in the afternoon, participants will select their thematic path related to energy, finance, or new technologies. The main partners of Risks and Trends 2018 are HSBC and Play, and the supporting partners - Baker McKenzie, The Boston Consulting Group, Facebook, Grupa Żywiec, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Jeronimo Martins Poland, the Polish Development Fund (PFR), Northrop Grumman and Visa.

Morawiecki, Fried and CEOs. The appearance of Mateusz Morawiecki, who opened two previous editions of Risks and Trends while he was still the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, will attract the most attention. The morning session will be attended by former US Deputy Secretary of State and former ambassador to Poland, Daniel Fried, who will talk about how Poland is seen from a distance: how the perception of the country abroad has changed over the past two years and to what extent the damage is reversible. But Risks and Trends is not only about guest speakers: the guests will include managers from international companies, state companies and foreign investors.

Global situation: Korea, Trump, Brexit, the end of globalisation. The morning part of the conference will see Cristina Varriale, analyst at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, answer the question of whether North Korea is heading for a nuclear confrontation with the US. Operational Director of the Center for American Progress, Gordon Gray, will talk about whether the Russian investigation will lead to the fall of Donald Trump. The director of the Institute of International Affairs in Rome, Nathalie Tocci, will assess the chances for the reform of the European Union after Brexit. The director of Carnegie Europe, Tomáš Valášek, will talk about the threats to security in Europe and the situation ahead of the presidential elections in Russia, while the senior economic adviser at HSBC, Stephen King, will speak about the world after globalisation.

Finance: future of eurozone, blockchains, bank mergers, fintechs. The main theme of the afternoon discussion in the finance path will be the future of the eurozone. Will it be possible to overcome political resistance to deepening fiscal integration in the eurozone countries - introducing a common budget, harmonising tax policy or ensuring compliance with the Maastricht rules? Participants will also debate the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies, possible mergers of Polish banks and whether fintechs will threaten banks' position. Speakers will include Anders Åslund, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, head of PFR Paweł Borys and Deputy MinFin Leszek Skiba.

Energy: expensive sources, Nord Stream II and low-emission cars. First, the participants in this thematic path will consider whether energy in Poland will become the most expensive in Europe. The market is facing transformation: the need to ensure security of supply, increase the capacity of RES, a painful abandonment of coal and opening up to electricity from neighbouring countries. Other topics will include the future of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline and how the car industry will adapt to low-carbon realities. Heli Antila, Chief Technology Officer at Fortum, Jack Ewing, the author of Faster, Higher, Further: the Volkswagen scandals and Wojciech Myślecki from the supervisory board of KGHM, will lead the discussion.

Technologies: end of web neutrality, start-ups, e-sport and online TV. This year the major discussion in the world of the internet has been sparked by the decision of the US FCC regulator to allow internet providers to speed up or slow down data transmission, which will lead to privileges for some websites. The technology sector is also interested in the risk of overheating of the Polish start-up market which will receive a powerful injection of financing, the future of e-sports and the competition of traditional television and online video services. The guests debating these topics will include the Public Policy Manager of Facebook, Ben Bartlett, director of Global Public Policy at Netflix, Colin Bortner and head of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), Marcin Cichy.