Wolfgang Lehmacher is a thought leader in global transport, logistics and supply chain. Until recently the Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries for the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, Lehmacher now works as a non-executive board director and strategy consultant who, as his LinkedIn profile puts it, is an ‘industry and technology evangelist and polymath, offering advice and support to stakeholders across the global supply chain ecosystem – ranging from start-ups, to investors, to Fortune 50 companies’. Lehmacher has written for the Financial Times, Forbes and Fortune magazines and speaks at leading business schools and conferences around the world. Wolfgang is a keynote speaker and strategic advisor.

Frank Schuhholz is a global expert on logistics, with a particular focus on the Belt & Road Initiative. Passionate about the pan-European rail freight industry, he has been tracking Chinese activities and interests in Europe since he saw the first regular container trains coming into Europe from China over 10 years ago while working for the A.P. Moller Maersk Group. In 2016 he set up FMS Advisers in order to assist business leaders who believe that rail can play a far more important role within their company’s supply chains in the future then it does today. Frank is a co-organizer of this conference.

Chen, as China Special Advisor, is a key member of the China Service Group of Baker McKenzie Budapest office. Being a native Chinese with a Hungarian law degree, Chen is best positioned to assist Chinese clients in connection with the legal aspects of their investments and operations in Hungary. In co-operation with our Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai offices, Chen can also assist Hungarian and other European clients in their business relationships with Chinese companies and their activities in the Chinese markets.

Dr. Christian Kuhn has more than 20 years of experience in the rail and logistics business in sales, production/operations, technical and infrastructure. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the second largest railway in the CIS and a major player in the developing new Silk Road corridor linking China with Europe and the Middle East. Beyond its core railway activities KTZ also has important activities in logistics, ports and rail-related manufacturing. He has worked at KTZ since 2014, initially as a Member of the Board of Directors (Independent Director, 9/2014 - 12/2018) and Chairman of Committee on Strategy and Innovation, and since 2018 as Chairman of Nomination & Remuneration Committee and Chairman of the Safety and Environmental Protection Committee, as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Since June 2018 he is also a Member of the Supervisory Board (Independent Director) and Chairman of Committee on Strategy and Finance for Ukrzaliznytsia, the State Railway of Ukraine, which is currently undergoing a major investment and restructuring programme. Following the recent developments in the country, UZ is facing major operational and organizational challenges in its transition towards a European railway model. Since February 2018 he is also a Member of the Board of Directors (Independent Director) of Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (LG), the biggest freight railway in the Baltic countries, technically being a part of the 1520-rail system of the CIS countries but also integrated into the EU rail system. Dr. Kuhn has previously worked for Neuss-Düsseldorfer Häfen GmbH & Co KG, Rail (infrastructure & workshops, 4/2016 - 9/2017), as Managing Director of daughter company RheinCargo GmbH & Co KG, for Deutsche Bahn AG as Executive Vice President Production DB Schenker Rail GmbH, and for Martrade Holding and Connex (Veolia Group).

Dr. Lúcio Vinhas de Souza has been a visiting researcher and visiting fellow at a number of institutions, including the Central Banks of Estonia and Germany, the New Economic School in Moscow and the European Centre for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics in Brussels. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Master and Bachelor degrees in economics from the New University of Lisbon in Portugal.

Robert Dobrzycki as Chief Executive Officer oversees the operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and in the United Kingdom. Dobrzycki opened Panattoni CEE operations in 2005 and under his management Panattoni Europe achieved the leading position on the Polish market and high brand recognition in Central Europe. During 14 years under his management Panattoni Europe developed in Poland over 6 million square meters of warehouse space out of existing stock of 16 million square meters. In 2018 Panattoni was named the most active developer in Europe by Property EU magazine. Currently, the portfolio managed by the Company in Europe is ca. 3.7 million square meters. Apart from Poland, Panattoni Europe has offices in the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Germany.

Since January 2018 Carsten is responsible for developing the Eurasian Corridor for DB Cargo as SVP and has therefore been appointed as Chairman/CEO of DB Cargo Eurasia GmbH. In 2014 -17 Carsten was responsible for the Industry Sector Chemicals for DB Cargo as Senior Vice President (SVP). In this role he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DB Cargo BTT GmbH, a leading forwarding company specialised in the transport of hazardous goods. In 2011 Carsten took on his first P&L-responsibility when he was appointed Managing Director to lead the strategic expansion of DB Schenker´s intermodal and rail logistics division in the UK. In this role Carsten was responsible for expanding DB Schenker´s existing intermodal Services from UK deep-sea ports and inland terminals, providing customers with reliable intermodal services based on various transport modes. Previously, after developing profound financial as well as strategic competences in this Project Management function, Carsten was part of DB group´s Corporate Development Team in 2007 where he headed the strategy department for DB´s rail freight activities from 2007-2010. In 2002 Carsten started his professional career as a Project Manager within the M&A department of Deutsche Bahn group. Between 2002 and 2006 he took part in the planning and implementation of more than 50 M&A Projects across several industries within the group; this for both domestic as well as international targets.

Volker Friedrich is Founder and Managing Director of GBP International, an independent consulting company founded in 1997 which offers management consulting and project management services across many industry segments in Europe and Asia Pacific, with a strong international network spread across China, India, Southeast-Asia and Europe. GBP International has its legal base in Malaysia but has established a number of representative offices with a local presence in major cities in Asia Pacific. Berlin and Kuala Lumpur have developed as centres for the coordination of our activities in Europe and Asia respectively. Prior to founding GBP, Volker was a Senior Consultant with Roland Berger & Partner.

Renata has many years of experience in real estate management, especially in the warehouse and industrial sector. Ten years ago she created the strong and reliable advisory agency, that has grown into today’s AXI IMMO. Renata gained her experience working for developers and international real estate agencies. Renata is a President SIOR European Chapter and a member of the RICS. Together with her team she advises and represents clients in leasing, renegotiations, disposal and acquisition of commercial facilities. She has an MA from Warsaw University and a post graduate degree in Management & Valuation in Sheffield University in UK.

József Kossuth joined Budapest Airport Zrt (BUD) in June 2008. He is responsible for managing the airport’s cargo business development, sales and marketing. His mission is to optimize the air cargo environment of the airport for the cargo business partners and to develop the regional cargo hub role of BUD utilizing the large cargo potential in the Central Eastern European region. József has spent his entire carrier in the Aviation Industry. Before, he worked as Assistant Fuel Manager for Malév Hungarian Airlines for two years, and Sales Manager of Airport Fuel Supply Ltd. subsidiary of (BUD) for three years being responsible for fuel service purchasing, sales, and marketing activities. From 2008 to 2014 he worked as Controlling Manager for BUD being responsible for the capital expenditure and airport development projects of the airport and other controlling activities. In addition he is the Board Member of the Hungarian Logistic Service Centres Association.

Carsten Pottharst was appointed Managing Director of InterRail Europe GmbH, based in Switzerland, in May 2016. His focus is on the operative activities of the organisation. He was previously Sales Director at InterRail, having joined from DB Schenker Automotive, where he was for 8 years. InterRail Europe is a rail service and forwarding provider which focuses on rail transport along three corridors across the states of the former Soviet Union, from Europe to China, from Europe to Russia, to Iran and India, and along the Central Asian corridor. Depending on seasonal fluctuations, InterRail controls and markets about 1,000 company-owned and leased freight wagons of different types (open and covered wagons, special wagons and container cars). It is General Agent for the Chinese Railway subsidiary CRCT (China Railway Container Transport Co. Ltd.), General Forwarder for KTZE (JSC „KTZ Express“, a one-hundred percent affiliate of Kazakh Railways) in EU and Switzerland, a member of the International Coordinating Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation (CCTT) and a member of the Association of European TransEurasia Operators and Forwarders

Dr. Wulf Meinel has over 25 years of real estate experience as an investment manager, banker and real estate lawyer. He joined Geneba Properties in 2014 as CEO and currently heads up Frasers Property Europe, which develops, owns and manages light industrial and logistics assets. From 2001 until 2012 Wulf was a Managing Director/Partner at The Carlyle Group. During his tenure at Carlyle he realized growth and expansion strategies for Germany, the Nordics and Central Europe, and played a key role in raising over € 3.5 billion for Carlyle`s three Real Estate Funds in Europe (CEREP I, II, III). Prior to this he held management positions at LaSalle Investment Management and German mortgage banks. Dr. Meinel studied law in Bonn and Freiburg, holds a PhD degree in European law and a Master degree in Political Science (University of Freiburg).

Philip is Secretary General of the European Freight & Logistics Leaders’ Forum, an international network of senior business leaders from across global supply chains. The organisation brings together shippers, service companies, academics and other supply chain stakeholders, to discuss current issues and debate long-term strategic solutions. He is a senior commercial executive with extensive experience in the food & drink and retail sectors particularly in relation to international supply chains and expansion in key global consumer markets, including China. Philip’s knowledge of global markets comes from two decades working as an adviser and entrepreneur in international consumer markets including as commercial director of an FMCG export wholesaler, founder of an international retail franchise and now founder and managing director of Global Food & Drink Brands. He was formerly a corporate finance Partner at Arthur Andersen and Head of its European Retail team and started his career in investment banking in London.

Ms Pendrakowska is the President of Board at the Boym Institute, CEO of Asian Century - a consulting company connecting Europe with Asia and a PhD candidate at the University of Warsaw. She graduated from Sinology, Philosophy, Sociology and Ethnology at the University of Warsaw. Fluent in English, Chinese, German and French.

Thomas is responsible for the Chinarail/Multimodal Service at DHL for the European Region. He is 51 years old, married and father of 2 sons. Since 30 years in the Logistics Industry he built up a broad expertise with various roles in International Freight Forwarding and CEP/Parcel/Express working since over 20 years for the DPDHL Group. His first projects with Chinarail started in 2010 and the kickoff of the first DHL Blocktrain from Chengdu to Lodz in May 2013. Since 2015 he is in charge of the Chinarail Service at DHL in Europe. In 2015 Thomas was managing the Chinarail product in the European Region at DHL Freight. In the context of the further successful development of the Chinarail Service, the group decided in 2017 to bundle the service under DHL Global Forwarding and set up an integrated team, headed by Thomas. Today DHL has a dedicated Rail team in place located in Europe and China to ensure smooth operation and expansion of DHL services along the New Silk Road.

Michał Grochowski has worked for LOT Polish Airlines since October 2017, where he is responsible for the continuous growth of the LOT Cargo brand as the best in class, and the support of LOT Cargo agents. LOT Cargo's range covers the major cities in Europe as well as the USA & Canada, but thanks to agreements with other airlines and freighters, goods can be delivered all over the world. The company offers transport of standard cargo, special cargo, dangers goods and charter flights on the client's request which can carry goods up to 120 tons to a range up to 12,000 kms. Before joining LOT, Michał was Head of Sales, Air & Ocean, for CEVA Logistics, and prior to that he was Air Freight Developing Manager CE for Switzerland-based logistics & supply chain company Panalpina. He started his career with DB Schenker, where he spent 7 years, rising to the position of Head of VM Aerospace Region East, responsibe for business development in Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

The Port of Rijeka – Luka Rijeka - in Croatia is the largest concessionaire for shipping and reloading of dry cargo in the Rijeka port basin. The port offers services in maritime traffic, port services, as well as the storage of cargo. The basis of the company's business policy is to provide top quality port services, which are permanently harmonized with the latest world market demands; business policy is also of importance for the preservation of the present and future expansion of the Port of Rijeka on the North Adriatic maritime route and its role as an important transit port for the Central and Central-Eastern European countries. The Port of Rijeka is located on the Kvarner Gulf in the northern Adriatic Sea. Facilities include terminals and other structures in the city and in the area reaching from the Bay of Bakar, where the bulk cargo terminal is located, approximately 13 kilometres east of Rijeka, to Bršica to the west of Rijeka, where there is a multi-purpose terminal. The Port of Rijeka is at the southern terminus of the Pan-European transport network Corridor, representing a maritime extension of the rail and road routes leading to and from Rijeka. They include modern roads such as the A6 motorway, forming a part of the European route E65 and connecting Zagreb, Budapest and Vienna, and the A7 motorway, a part of the European route E61 and the E65. Rail links comprise single-track railway lines to Zagreb and to Pivka, Slovenia. There are plans to upgrade to a high-performance, double-track railway.

Bartosz Komasa has been involved in Sino-Polish economic relations since 2002. He started his career at the Economic Section of Polish Embassy in Beijing, where he assisted Polish enterprises entering the Chinese market. Between 2004 and 2012 Bartosz worked for the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, where he was in charge of Chinese investments in Poland as well as cooperation with government institutions and local authorities. In February 2012 Bartosz assisted in the establishment of first Chinese bank in Poland – Bank of China. He was initially Senior Relationship Manger and later Head of Corporate Relations - his current position. The Bank of China in Poland was the 4th branch of the bank in Europe after Luxembourg (its European seat), Rotterdam and Brussels.

Peter Vesterbacka served as the Chief Marketing Officer and Mighty Eagle of Rovio Entertainment Oy until summer 2016. Previously he has worked at the original startup Hewlett-Packard and founded among others Slush and Mobile Monday. Lately Vesterbacka has focused on education related ventures and constructing the world's longest subsea tunnel connecting Finland and Estonia. He is a very known and active persona in the startup community around the world.

Kustaa Valtonen is an experienced sales professional. He has more than 13 years of experience from HP and Microsoft. Last 7 years he has worked as a business angel helping a large number of startups to raise funding and grow their businesses. Valtonen started in May 2016 to work on the world's longest subsea railway tunnel connecting Finland and Estonia.

From the start of his professional career he has been working on the regulated infrastructural sectors: at first with the civil aviation and the TMT sector (Telecommunication, Media, Technologies), and then with the railway transport. He has experience in the consultancy industry as he has been providing services for transport companies. Recently, he was the Director of the Department of Monitoring and Safety in the Office of Rail Transportation where he was responsible for the processes related to the certification of railway carriers, infrastructure administrators, and subjects responsible for the maintenance of freight wagons, operation of sidings, and competences of engine drivers. When he run the Department of the Market of Infrastructure, he gained experience in approving structural subsystems for operation and operation of notified units assessing the compliance with the technical specifications for interoperability. He spoke at a number of professional conferences on the safety and interoperability and gave lectures at universities. He actively participated in legislative works on the amendments to the Railway Transport Act and implementing regulations, including within the scope of implementing the European Union directives. He represented Poland during the meetings of the European Railway Agency, including on the meetings of the Administrative Council of the ERA, NSA Network group, and as part of the twinning programme of the European Council when he advised the Ukrainian Ministry of Transportation.

Port of Koper is an important port for Eastern and Central Europe. Port of Koper operates 12 specialized terminals in the port area. The container terminal is the largest terminal in the Adriatic (close to 1 million TEU in 2018). The car terminal is dedicated to brand new cars and is one of the largest in the Mediterranean. The reefer terminal is one of the most experienced with over 50 years of activity and development. An increase of volume to/from Poland via Port of Koper has been noted year-to-year. The increase of total volume is one of the reasons for important investments in the port area as well as outside the port (rail connections, extension of piers, extension of stacking and storage yard, etc.).

Christoph Szakowski is an international expert in the logistics and transportation industry with 20 years experience in top management roles and consultancy assignments in numerous countries in Europe and in Asia. He supports large and mid-size logistics providers in Transformations, M&A processes, Executive Search and the implementation of key change management initiatives. At LogCon East, the CEE-largest boutique advisory firm based in Vienna, he is responsible for leading projects that make the clients more competitive, efficient and profitable in the Emerging Markets, CEE, CIS and DACH. As corporate executive Christoph was in C-level positions, among others, with DB Schenker with responsibility for business development, P&L and network integration in Germany, CEE and in Russia. Christoph’s track record includes leadership of diversified organizations up to 250 m EUR P&L and international teams up to 450 professionals in Road, Rail, Intermodal, Sea, Air, Customs, Special Projects, Global Sport Events, Heavy Cargo and Customs. As consultant he has been advising several leading logistics providers on Strategy and Integration, Partner Search and Expansion, Turn Around and Restructuring in the One Belt One Road geography and countries like Germany, Poland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and China. He is a holder of a MBA-degree from Hamburg University and speaks Polish, German, English and Russian.

Jakub Jakóbowski is a Senior Fellow at the China-EU Programme in the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), a public think-tank based in Warsaw, Poland. PhD. Candidate at the Collegium for Socio-Economics, Warsaw School of Economics. He specializes in China's international political economy, as well as CEE-China and EU-China relations. Author of the recent 'The Silk Railroad. The EU-China rail connections: background, actors, interests' report, as well as a series of publications on the China-CEE 16+1 format cooperation in finance, investment and trade.

Adam Konieczny joined Louvre Hotels Group in May 2017 as Development Director for Poland and Eastern Europe. His goal was to develop the brands of the group through franchise, management and lease contracts in the region. Currently, he is responsible for Group development in Europe and supervises regional development managers. Previously he was a Country Head Poland at Christie & Co. Based in Warsaw, he was responsible for identifying hotel opportunities across Poland and CEE for the development and expansion of the company in the region. He has been involved in a number of advisory and valuation assignments as well as operator search and section processes. In 2016 Adam was involved in the sale of two 4-star hotels in Wrocław and Gdańsk on behalf of an American fund. Prior to Christie & Co, Adam worked several years as a Senior Consultant in the hospitality area, at DTZ´s (now Cushman & Wakefield) hospitality department in Warsaw. Adam Konieczny has a Master of Arts in Management from Warsaw School of Economics and a Master of Science in Real Estate from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He also obtained a Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management from Cornell University. Adam is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Andrew Wrobel is the Founding Partner, Content & Strategy at Emerging Europe. Trained as a journalist, he has worked for broadcast and print media for over 15 years. Since the beginning of his career he has covered business, investment, trade, macro-economy and political economy. He regularly interviews political and business leaders about economics, business and politics. He has authored and contributed to a number of international business, investment and trade-related publications, guides and reports, mainly about the CEE region. He is a moderator and a panelist at international economic and business events, a juror at various international business-related competitions, a location promotion trainer and a media commentator. Andrew is also a member of IAOP’s European Outsourcing Council. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in nation branding.

Richard Stephens is Founder & Editor of Poland Today, an English-language media firm based in Warsaw. The company is the publisher of the award-winning Poland Today magazine and hosts its flagship conferences at MIPIM, the world’s leading real estate fair in Cannes. Richard is also Director of the Emerging Europe Awards in London, organized by Emerging Europe. He was previously editor of Eurobuild CEE magazine, where he established the conference department and also created the hugely successful Eurobuild Awards Gala, running the first two editions. Previously, he was Managing Director of CEPIF, the CEE region’s real estate fair in Warsaw. Throughout his career, Richard has organised over 120 international conferences and events, including 10+ trips of international journalists to Poland & CEE countries on behalf of entities like UEFA, ahead of Euro 2012 in Poland & Ukraine. Richard is English and graduated in Theology & Religious Studies from Bristol University.