• Sofia Business School – Master Classes 2015

  The fourth edition of the Sofia Business School brought together leading scholars and business leaders who presented to the future leaders of Bulgaria and the region anticipatory knowledge on the dynamics and trends at work in the global economic and financial system. The master classes took place between 27 June and 3 July 2015 and demonstrated once again the excellent cooperation between the organisers from the Reform Union Club and the New Bulgarian University.

  For seven days, a team of internationally renowned readers and established figures from the corporate field and the government sphere discussed the state of the EU banking sector and the stress tests results, the euro’s potential and the global currency war, the emergence of new institutional relationships in financial transactions and the place of the crypto currencies in them, the role of the online peer-to-peer model for the future of global finance, the limits of innovation as fuel for the global economy, China as a balance in international economic relations, Islamism and its financial architecture in Europe and on the Balkans. Prof. Kevin Dowd, the School’s Programme Director, focused on the reshuffling of the global financial model in all its aspects; the various topics were interpreted by leading authorities in their relevant fields – Dr. Douglas Jackson – the founder e-gold®, Prof. Ali Eftekhari -President of the American Nano Society and innovations entrepreneur, Andrew Davis – a leading financial and investment analyst and former editor Financial Times Weekend, Assoc. Prof. Kiril Tochkov – professor at Texas University and expert on Chinese economy, Alex Alexiev – US-based expert in radical Islam and geostrategic forecasting, Gordon Kerr – investment banker and financial consultant at the Cobden Partners (London), Prof. Zhang Jianxin – professor of International Business Relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, etc. The School’s master classes once again challenged the top corporate leaders in Bulgaria to join the debate on various academic topics and the transformation of vanguard theoretical postulates into innovative competitive power, which lent useful practicability and significance to the programme. The lectures and discussions followed the established format from previous years with an academic part, discussion panels and presentations by leading Bulgarian and international business figures. In keeping with tradition, the School also featured readers from the forum’s partner organisations – Instituto Bruno Leoni (Italy), Le Studium (France) and Cobden Partners (London).

  The main topics at the fourth edition of the master classes were:
  
  • The state of the EU and UK banking sector and the results from the stress tests
  • Why there will be a fundamental restructuring of the Euro and other currencies
  • The emergence of novel institutional arrangements underlying money, payments and finance
  • The emergence of online peer-to-peer and crowdfunding models and their potential role in the future of finance
  • Is there any limit to innovation as the current driver of global economy
  • China’s silk road strategy: What does it mean to the world
  • Fundamental Islam and its financial architecture in Europe and the Balkans.
  

  Among the corporate leaders who participated in the forum were Prof. Lachezar Tsotsorkov (Chair of the Supervisory Board of Asarel-Medet JSC), Vasko Nachev (Manager of oil and gas drilling projects), Milena Videnova (Manager of Coface Bulgaria), Elena Marinova (President of Musala Soft JSC), Ivaylo Penchev (Founder and Executive Director of Walltopia), Carlo Stagnaro (Senior Fellow at the Bruno Leoni Institute, Turin).

  Among the moderators of the discussion panels were Ilian Vasilev (Reform Union Club), Boris Petrov (D Commerce Bank), Chief Assistant Emil Kalchev (New Bulgarian University), Prof. Stefan Stefanov (New Bulgarian University), Assoc. Prof. Angel Georgiev (New Bulgarian University), Assoc. Prof. Ivan Boevski (New Bulgarian University), Viktor Avramov (Risk Management Lab), Krassimir Kostenarov (New Bulgarian University), Vladimir Sirkarov (Bloomberg TV Bulgaria), Kuzman Iliev (Bloomberg TV Bulgaria), Hristian Daskalov (Brain Workshop Institute), etc.

  The fourth edition of the School was sponsored by:
  
  • Prof. Lachezar Tsotsorkov
  • Oiltanking Bulgaria AD
  • Siled AD
  • Parvi May PLC
  • Dunapack Rodina AD
  • SIEMENS EOOD
  • BMW Bulgaria
  

  

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