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Business Conference: Newly Admitted EU counties and Central Asia

Business Conference: Newly Admitted EU counties and Central Asia

Academics, business and film experts will discuss the implications in business and entertainment of the newly expanded European Union (from 15 to 25 member states) with Russia, Eurasia and the US.

Friday, March 11, 2005
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
UCLA Faculty Center
Los Angeles, CA 90095

European Union: The EU and the US both account for around one fifth of each other's bilateral trade, a matter of $1 billion a day. The investment links are even more substantial. The EU and US are each other's largest trade and investment partner. The total amount of 2-way investment amounts to over $1.5 trillion, with each partner employing directly and indirectly about 6 million people in the other.

Eurasia: The Caspian basin has proved to be a world-class oil and gas province with large fields such as Kazakhstan’s Kashagan and the Azeri Chiraq Guneshli field offshore Baku. The dismantling of the Soviet Union has opened up new oil and gas plays to foreign competition in Russia and newly independent states such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. In addition slow, but significant political and economic reforms have opened Iran’s oil and gas wealth to foreign participation.

Entertainment Industry: The picturesque countryside and the low cost of using it, is making Romania a favored destination now for Hollywood producers. Extras are paid about $10 a day. A small medieval castle can be rented for a few thousand dollars a week. Local people, mostly farmers, have found new work as extras.

Program:

Moderator: Ivan Berend, Center for European and Eurasian Studies, UCLA

Did the Economy in East Central Europe Change After May 1, 2004?

Ivan Berend, Director, Center for European and Eurasian Studies, UCLA

USA - Hungarian Trade Relations

Odon Kiraly, Hungarian Consulate

Emerging Spheres of Influence: Energy Investment, Integration, and Competition in East Central Europe, Russia and the Caspian Region

Preston Keat, Research Director, Eurasia Group

Shooting In and About Russia

Marina Goldovskaya, UCLA Film School

Entertainment Industry in Central Europe

Robert Cain, President of Vibrant Pictures

Developments in International Film Business, focusing on Germany and Russia

Peter Belsito, Executive Vice President, Film Finders, Inc.

Keynote Address: Isabelle Garzon, Visiting EU Scholar, UC Berkeley

Special Instructions

For non-UCLA attendees: please call the Center to register. Registration fee is $35.00 (this includes parking and a lunch)

For more information please contact

Vera Wheeler
Tel: 310/825-4060
vwheeler@international.ucla.edu

Sponsor(s): Center for European and Eurasian Studies, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes Los Angeles and Southern California Consortium International Studies