Central Europe Business Summit - Forbes Üzleti Fesztivál

Central Europe
Business
Summit

Building on the success of the 2018 conference and gala 100 + 100 Years of Innovation in New York City, Forbes Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary are joining forces in organizing their first ever central Europe business summit in Hong Kong and Shenzhen for approx. 150 people.

The event will provide a platform to introduce and connect Slovak, Czech and Hungarian innovators and businesses with investors and business partners in Asia. As part of the trip, CE delegation will visit R&D centres of some of the top companies in Hong Kong/Shenzen area. At the same time, participants from Asia and central Europe will take part at the evening gala as well as related cultural and networking activities.

Does your company have what it takes to succeed on the global scale and catch the eye of an investor? Hong Kong - the world´s freest economy & gateway creates an exciting opportunity to expand your business and build strong business ties. Get there with Forbes!

The Langham, Shenzen

20.00-22.00

Standing reception and networking

The Langham Hotel, Shenzen

12.30-12.50

OPENING SPEECHES

Editor-in-chiefs, partners, Forbes China

12.50-13.40

OUR SUCCESS IN CHINA

It is not easy to find a way to conquer the Chinese market, but in this discussion panel we are going to present three companies from CEE which managed to achieve great business success in China. What are their stories in China? What challenges did they face there? And what is their advice for everybody who wants to increase their chances at success in China?

GUESTS:

Benjamin Qiu, Loeb and Loeb, Partner

Based in Beijing and Hong Kong, Mr Qiu is focused on corporate transactions and intellectual property related to technology, media and entertainment companies. Before joining international law company Loeb and Loeb, he worked at a law firm based in Silicon Valley. Prior to that, he was general counsel and fund director of a venture capital firm in Beijing (Sinovation Ventures), where he was responsible for venture fund formation and the financing and governance of its portfolio companies.

Gábor Bayer, 77 Elektronika, Technical Director

77 Elektronika Kft. is a Hungarian private company developing and manufacturing in vitro diagnostic medical devices, mainly urine analyzers, blood glucose meters and their consumables. These products are supplied all over the world under 77 Elektronika’s own brand name, as well as OEM and ODM products for market-leading multinational companies in the field of medical diagnostics.

Igor Kolla, ANTIK Telecom, Founder and CEO

Mr Kolla is founder and owner of multiplay broadband services operator in Central and Eastern Europe ANTIK Telecom and visionary of hi-tech in digital video communications field. ANTIK Telecom is the biggest trans-regional/supraregional provider of the internet and triple-play services in Slovakia. The company has its own R&D centre focused on developing and testing new Technologies for telecoms. ANTIK Technology is headquartered in Slovakia and has offices in Singapore, USA, Brasil and Australia. In 2010 ANTIK opened their office in Shenzhen and were the first company from Slovakia to employ workers in China. Mr Kolla speaks Chinese and spends few months in a year in ANTIK offices in Asia.

13.40-14.30

FRESH IDEAS FROM CENTRAL EUROPE

Three European countries, three most innovative startups and three minutes for each of the three most promising Czech, Slovak and Hungarian entrepreneurs to introduce their fresh ideas in thrilling elevator pitches on stage. Followed by a discussion panel with all three guests to examine the innovative CEE startups’ potential to be a rewarding asset for China and Chinese investors.

GUESTS:

Jerry Javornický, Spaceknow, co-founder

Mr Javornický is co-founder of one of the fastest growing Czech startups. SpaceKnow is pioneering the use of space-based data that nowcasts the trends of the global economy and business activity and provide insights to financial markets, businesses, defense, government, and not-for-profits.

David Ballagi, CTO and Co-Founder of Zippsafe AG

A young technology centered company with close ties to the ETH Zurich.
Since 2015, Zippsafe has been pursuing one goal: to create the most intelligent storage solution for locker rooms. They have achieved this goal by developing a highly space-efficient storage solution based on textile storage compartments.

Radoslav Danilak, Tachyum, CEO and co-founder

Tachyum is developing microchips designed to replace the majority of existing chips provisioned in hyperscale (i.e. cloud) data centres, offering significant improvements in performance, energy consumption, server utilisation and space requirements. It was founded in 2016 by Radoslav Danilak, who has over 25 years of industry experience and over 100 patents designing state-ofthe-art processing systems, to disrupt markets by solving a performance plateau crisis.

14.30-14.50

COFFEE BREAK

14.50-15.35

FINTECH REVOLUTION: WIN OR RISK? POWERED BY HOME CREDIT

Payment apps like Alipay and WeChat captured many millions of previously unbanked consumers and transformed financial life in China. What lies behind the fintech revolution which the country is undergoing and why it is potentially risk? Can we expect bigger regulation of Chinese fintech companies and is there anything which they can learn from similar companies in Europe?

GUESTS:

Pavel Burian, Chief Sales Officer, Home Credit CFC

Joe Chen, Executive Vice President, WeBank

Baifan Zhu, General Manager of Strategy, Cooperation, Baidu Fin

15.35-15.50

China: E-mobility superpower

Martin Jahn, FAW-Volkswagen, Executive Vicepresident Sales and Marketing

Former Vice-Prime Minister of Czech goverment for economic affair and former member of the board of Škoda Auto is veteran of car industry. Based in Changchun Mr Jahn is serving as Executive Vicepresident of FAW-Volkswagen, joint venture company which manufactures Volkswagen group cars for sale in China.

15.50-16.35

CHINA IN THE VANGUARD OF INNOVATION

China is on its way to becoming the largest economy in the world. It has the fastest trains in the world, world‘s largest e-commerce company (Alibaba), and your food will be delivered in 15 minutes there. In China, change comes so quickly that the future can arrive before the past is fully stripped away – especially in the Greater Bay Area where the conference is taking place. Let‘s talk about all the examples why China is in the vanguard of innovation.

GUESTS:

Chibo Tang - Partner, Gobi Partners

Gregory Shea - Partner, BYD Advantage

Patrick Berbon - Managing Partner, CM Venture Captial

16.35-16.50

I WISH I HAD KNOWN

To wrap up the exciting day, we have picked up 10 most important advices how to succeed in Chinese business from protecting your IP to Chinese traditions which you should remember before you enter China. It will be perfect final touch provided by someone who is living in China for years.

Guest:

Leon Jakimic, Lasvit, owner

Czech entrepreneur, founder and owner of Lasvit, a glassmaking company designing and manufacturing bespoke light fittings, feature glass installations, and lighting collections. Leon has been living in Hong Kong for the last 20 years.

16.50-17.00

CLOSING REMARKS

19.00-23.00

Gala Dinner

19.00 - 19.25 Welcome drink

19:30 - 19.40 Opening remarks - Forbes China

19.45 - 20.15 Podium discussion: 1on1 interview with star guest

Jiri Smejc - Co-owner of Home Credit

20.20 - 20.40 Appetizer

20.45 - 21.10 Podium discussion: 1on1 interview with star guest

21.10 - 21.45 Main Course

21.50 - 21.55 Closing remarks

22.00 - 22.15 Dessert 22.15 - 23.00 Drinks & Networking