XXIX Welconomy Forum was held on 30-31 May 2022 in Toruń. During the opening session of the congress, experts debated on, among others, fundamental economic issues in the context of events unfolding beyond our eastern border.
Speakers at the opening session of the event included: Henryk Kowalczyk, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Paweł Borys, President of the Polish Development Fund; Rafał Baniak, President of the Board of the Employers of Poland; Dariusz Budrowski, President of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, President of the Polish People’s Party; Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, Director of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing and the World Hearing Centre in Kajetany; Prof. Gertruda Uścińska, President of Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and Egidius Giedraitis, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Lithuania.
– We had too much food in the European Union, but food security was compromised with the start of the aggression against Ukraine. The Russian Federation has blocked more than 20 million tons of grain in Ukrainian ports. Minister Henryk Kowalczyk said during the plenary session that it is now crucial to unblock them.
President of the Board of the Employers of Poland, Rafał Baniak, pointed out that – Polish entrepreneurs have recently received many blows, such as among others the pandemic, the war caused by Russian aggression and the Polish Deal. As the Employers of Poland and entrepreneurs, we expect from the government, above all, predictability. You cannot design a good legal environment where there is no dialogue. We expect to have a constructive dialogue with the government.
According to Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, Director of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing and the World Hearing Center in Kajetany, the pandemic showed the importance of the health care system. However, the attitude of society to health issues is also critical. – We talk about what hurts us, the situation across our eastern border, or the fact that there are still quite frequent cases of Covid is heartbreaking. We must remember that the pandemic is not over yet – Prof. H. Skarżyński added.
Hence, this year’s mission statement of the Forum was “Towards a New World Order”. A total of 25 thematic panels were organized during the two-day event. They included topics such as energy independence of the country, inflation, the situation of war refugees and the latest trends in the world of technology.
A notable distinction of the Toruń conference is the “Welconomy Emerald” award, given to persons whose attitude and activities inspire hope for the development of our country. This year the “Welconomy Emerald” award was given to Mr. Rafał Baniak – President of the Employers of Poland. He received the statuette from the hands of Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, MD, PhD dr h.c. multi., who won this award last year.