Summit popular with participants, but disruptive for residents
While most participants defended the summit as beneficial to the city and "extremely useful to business," some shared concerns it could further alienate leaders from ordinary folk.
"You are putting Warsaw on the map," said Michel Ogrizek, managing director of the World Economic Forum, the event's organizer. "For a few days, everyone in the world will have turned their sights to Warsaw." He went on to say that the benefits to the city justified almost any amount of expenditure on the organization of the summit.
Many participants concurred, saying that the networking opportunities for both local and foreign businesses were invaluable.
"It is even better than I expected," said Hans Flindt, the owner of Activision Life, a biotech company. "Already after the first day I have made a lot of extremely useful contacts."
Others said that the event was also a great opportunity to promote the city and let foreign business people get to know it. Siegfried Bohro, chairman of Care Technologies, a Spanish-based software maker, said that he was not sure when he would have come to Warsaw had it not been for the summit. His company plans to enter the domestic market by the end of next year and is in search of a partner. He described the event as a perfect platform to launch such a search, adding that he was surely one of many participants for whom the summit provided the opportunity for a first visit to Warsaw and a reconnaissance of the business opportunities here.
But all was not rosy in many participants' opinion. Activision Life's Flindt, who also owns the Casablanca Internet café in the city center, pointed to lost revenues for many local businesses.
His concerns were echoed by Effe Elleman-Jensen, a former Danish foreign minister and chairman of the Baltic Development Forum, a network of political, academic and business leaders, who said he had mixed feelings about the security measures. He mused about "this beautiful city I love" being all locked up and ruined by plywood in every shop window and closed businesses.
"I was dreaming about sitting in the Old Town and enjoying a beer, but it is impossible," he said. "This has nothing to do with the festive spirit that I'd like to see on this historic occasion." On the other hand, he asked whether terrorists and hooligans going under the name of anti-globalists should be allowed to prevent such meetings from taking place. He pointed to the "very real values, such as networking opportunities" that the event creates, but worried that the paralyzing of the whole city "so that a few big shots can drive around in safety" could prove unpopular and drive the gap separating European leaders from ordinary people even wider. In the future, he added, organizing such events will prove very difficult.
"You are putting Warsaw on the map," said Michel Ogrizek, managing director of the World Economic Forum, the event's organizer. "For a few days, everyone in the world will have turned their sights to Warsaw." He went on to say that the benefits to the city justified almost any amount of expenditure on the organization of the summit.
Many participants concurred, saying that the networking opportunities for both local and foreign businesses were invaluable.
"It is even better than I expected," said Hans Flindt, the owner of Activision Life, a biotech company. "Already after the first day I have made a lot of extremely useful contacts."
Others said that the event was also a great opportunity to promote the city and let foreign business people get to know it. Siegfried Bohro, chairman of Care Technologies, a Spanish-based software maker, said that he was not sure when he would have come to Warsaw had it not been for the summit. His company plans to enter the domestic market by the end of next year and is in search of a partner. He described the event as a perfect platform to launch such a search, adding that he was surely one of many participants for whom the summit provided the opportunity for a first visit to Warsaw and a reconnaissance of the business opportunities here.
But all was not rosy in many participants' opinion. Activision Life's Flindt, who also owns the Casablanca Internet café in the city center, pointed to lost revenues for many local businesses.
His concerns were echoed by Effe Elleman-Jensen, a former Danish foreign minister and chairman of the Baltic Development Forum, a network of political, academic and business leaders, who said he had mixed feelings about the security measures. He mused about "this beautiful city I love" being all locked up and ruined by plywood in every shop window and closed businesses.
"I was dreaming about sitting in the Old Town and enjoying a beer, but it is impossible," he said. "This has nothing to do with the festive spirit that I'd like to see on this historic occasion." On the other hand, he asked whether terrorists and hooligans going under the name of anti-globalists should be allowed to prevent such meetings from taking place. He pointed to the "very real values, such as networking opportunities" that the event creates, but worried that the paralyzing of the whole city "so that a few big shots can drive around in safety" could prove unpopular and drive the gap separating European leaders from ordinary people even wider. In the future, he added, organizing such events will prove very difficult.
