Over all these years, PKP has hosted several thousand participants and more than 450 European and international speakers, who each year have given their assessment of the main challenges facing the economy in the world, in Europe and in the region.
Those who have taken part in the region’s central business conference include Peter Mandelson, former European Commissioner for Trade (2004–2008), André Sapir, former economic adviser to the President of the European Commission and professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and many distinguished lecturers from the universities of Amsterdam and Michigan, London Business School and Eindhoven University of Technology. The speakers have also included Robert Martijnse, then CEO of Philips for Italy, Greece, Egypt, the Adriatic region and Israel.
PKP has also hosted lecturers from Copenhagen Business School, the University of Pennsylvania, the MIRBIS International Business School in Moscow, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Bilkent University in Ankara, the universities of Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Belgrade, the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica, the Institute of Economics in Kyiv, the business school of the University of North Carolina, Eindhoven University of Technology, Dutch faculties of economics and many other universities and institutes.
The Portorož Business Conference is an event that is designed anew every year, and its content is built on thorough research work, which ensures the conference’s high added value.
Among the distinguished lecturers, we should mention Professor Joachim Scheide of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Peter Sanfey, chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Willem Buiter, the influential British economist and professor of European political economy at the London School of Economics, Helmut Bernkopf, head of Central and South-Eastern Europe at BACA, Klaus Rausch, managing director of HVB Information Services, HypoVereinsbank, and Peer Hull Kristensen of Copenhagen Business School. We have of course also hosted many Slovenian professors and economists, among whom the respected Professor Veljko Bole deserves special mention; he has been with EIPF for more than three decades and currently works there as a senior research fellow.
The Finance Newspaper Award is a top accolade in the Slovenian business community, intended for those individuals and organisations that make a key contribution to economic development and to increasing social prosperity.
At PKP we present the awards for special achievements in business. The winners to date are: Ivan Ribnikar, professor at the Faculty of Economics; Jože Stanič, former President of the Management Board of Gorenje; France Bučar, first President of the National Assembly; Stojan Petrič, President of the Management Board of Kolektor; Milan Kučan, former President of the Republic; Slavko Avsenik, musician; Jože Colarič, President of the Management Board of Krka; Vojko Čok, President of the Management Board of Banka Koper; Janez Škrabec, managing director of Riko; Spomenka Hribar, philosopher; Sandi Češko, President of the Management Board of Studio Moderna; Štefan Hoyer, President of the Management Board of the Jub Group; Ivo Boscarol, director of Pipistrel; Aleksander Zalaznik, Danfoss Trata; Melita Ferlež, Henkel Maribor; Jožica Rejec and Štefan Bertoncelj of Domel; Tina Maze, skier; Vladimir Rukavina, director of Narodni dom Maribor and father of the Lent Festival; Darko Brlek, artistic director and general manager of the Ljubljana Festival; Igor Akrapovič, owner of the Akrapovič Group; Professor Janez Prašnikar; Edi Kraus, Aquafil Slovenija; Silvan Peršolja, Klet Brda; Marjan Pipenbaher, Ponting; Gertrud Rantzen, Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce from 2006 to 2022; and Srečko Šestan, Commander of the Civil Protection of the Republic of Slovenia.
