The global economy has faced unprecedented challenges over the past three years. The global pandemic that began in March 2020 caused a significant amount of economic and social dislocation and the disruption of supply chains around the globe. Just as the world economy thought it had turned a corner, 2022 saw the beginning of an economic slowdown that is likely to pose more challenges in 2023, according to the IMF and other global bodies. 

It is against this backdrop that the themes of the conference have been selected. The conference title itself, "Challenges in the Western Balkans: Infrastructure and Development in the Region" is extremely pertinent and timely. The key themes to be addressed at 2023/IFEES/GEDC/EPOKA are:

• How can countries satisfy infrastructural needs in times of economic challenges in the Western Balkans and beyond?
• How can we continue promoting economic and social development in the Western Balkans region in 2023?
• How can we bring about greater innovation in the Western Balkans and beyond during this era?

The conference will seek to offer conversations, discussions, debates, and solutions, to pressing problems of our times in a specific region of the European landscape.  It will offer fertile interdiscplinary and cross-cultural soil for deep and meaningful discussion and debate. It will bring together academics, industry leaders, students, government officials and non-governmental representatives to address and respond to these themes.