Prof.Dr.B.Hallier and Prof.Dr.S.Zaric (Zagreb/Croatia) discussed the history of the former Habsburg Empire and the Danubian Principalities Wallachia and Moldovia on one hand and the Balkan Zone of the former Osman Empire on the other - and its conflicts during the two World Wars, the Iron Curtain and the split of the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

Both ERA-professors agreed on the importance of political, economic and social activities beyond old and new borders and an optimization of penetration of knowledge about the past, today's situation and its potential for future generations. Both want to promote university contacts and Conferences within Central Eastern Europe.
 

In December 2015 the European Commission published a Circular Economy Package to encourage more sustainability in the UN reflected by the UN Sustainability Development Goals for 2030.

EuroCommerce now discussed the status quo in Brussels and the plans to revise various waste directions and to minimize waste and losses. The motto was "Scaling up market solutions in Retail & Wholesale". The meeting of 250 experts was attended also by high level administration officials like Dr. J.Potocnik/UN International Resource Panel and former EU-Commissioner, D.Calleju Crespo/ General Director DG Environment, B.Poisson/ French Ministry for Ecology, MEPs like A.J.Valean or K. van Brempt. Retail was represented among others by Carrefour, IKEA, METRO, BGA, FCD, Virke and Prof.Dr.B.Hallier (at the photo together with the EuroCommerce President Regis Degelcke and Christian Verschueren Managing Director EuroCommerce).
 

Under the auspices of the Central European Fair Alliance (CEFA) the Adriatic Fair Budva / Montenegro celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

Within a special workshop "Trade Fair Industry: Supplying Space and Knowledge" case studies about Budva/Montenegro, Thessaloniki/Greece, Novi Sad/Serbia, Zagreb/Croatia and EuroShop Duesseldorf/Germany were presented. Prof.Dr.Hallier stated the importance for Fair Business to scout innovations beyond borders (see also LINK to Interview). He praised within that context also the cooperation between the CEFA network creating a Team Spirit between its members.
 

In Sweden the growth of retail sales is shifting from brick-and-stone towards digital sales as Emma Hernell from the HUI-Trade Institute pointed out in a lecture.

But it is not only a shift within the trade channels but it has an effect for the ordering too. "Due to the daily data from digital sales the response of logistics and even production are speeding up. Production and Delivery will be more and more dependent on the use of algorithms for sales forecast" Prof.B.Hallier explained.
 

At its conference in the city of Bochum/Germany the North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) stressed that for growth in retail Multi Channel is a must! NRW-Minister Prof.Dr.Pinkwart (picture) offered credits for small and medium sized companies to help to implant digital investments.

To the conference were also invited speakers from the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden. Prof.Dr.Hallier during the small talks pointed to the fact that in the history of the EuroShop exhibition it was proved that scouting for best practices for retail had to go beyond the own borders. Also EuroCIS was successfully established internationally to empower retailers through IT.