A recurring theme at this year’s EBRD Business Forum has been the extraordinary changes witnessed by the region since the fall of the Berlin Wall. But what about the future? What will the EBRD’s countries of operations look like in another 18 years?
That was the subject of a special Business Forum event on Monday 21 May entitled Scenarios for the future. Although it did not attempt to forecast what will happen in 2025, it did set out several possible outcomes for the region, focussing on four related issues: population and demographics; the environment; technology; and the emergence of China.
“We are not going to predict the future,” said Richard O’Brien, from future-planning experts Outsights, who organized the event. “Our objective is to anticipate better many of the things we need to be thinking about.”
Regarding demographics, the presentation highlighted the challenges that falling birth rates and high mortality levels pose to many countries in the EBRD region. Possible consequences include labour shortages and population migration, not to mention the human suffering caused by unhealthy lifestyles and poor health provision. But, as the Outsights team pointed out, the region faces alternative futures according to different population projections.
See full Press Release.
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