RMWBG 2021

DAY 1

The first day of RMWBG started off with the participants arriving at the Romanian-American University at 3:30 pm. For the following half an hour, the staff team administered COVID-19 tests and checked-in the delegates. At 4:00 pm, the Opening Ceremony began with an introduction to the concept, procedure and modus operandi of the conference. Afterwards, the rector of the university was welcomed on stage. He addressed the young minds, talking about the future, the World Bank, and the importance of taking the initiative. Following, Barbara Prevosti, a Guidance and Recruitment Officer from Bocconi University spoke about Bocconi University, about the life as a student in Milano, and answered the questions posed by the audience. Next, the organizing team went upstage and delivered their speeches. Last, but not least, Andrei Nicolae, the CEO of UniApply, captured the public’s attention during his workshop about entrepreneurship. The participants learned about the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, how to create a startup and even had the chance to present their own ideas of a business in front of successful entrepreneurs for the chance to win a prize of five hundred euros and to get in contact with a VC for the opportunity to finance the startup.

DAY 2

On the second day, the participants arrived starting with 8:30. At 9 am the start-up workshop continued and Andrei Nicolae the CEO of UniApply taught the participants the important steps for building a successful company and how important is the pitch presentation for it. Soon the seven teams started working on their start-up strategy and each of them presented their ideas on stage and Andrei Nicolae and other two representatives of UniApply were the jury. After all the presentations were presented everyone went to their committee and soon the debate started. Each committee represented one of the five institutions of the World Bank Group and had different topics to discuss. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) committee focused on offering innovative financial solutions to the government of India to solve the issue of widespread low-skilled labor in India and the development of India’s industry. The International Development Association (IDA) committee which aims to help the world’s poorest countries wanted to improve the economic development of Nigeria in two different ways. The first one focused on the innovation development and effectiveness in the acquisition of skills (IDEAS) Project, and the second one focused on the adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment (AGILE) Project. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) committee concentrated on fostering economic inclusion and technology-driven innovation in financial services in Asia. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency’s (MIGA) committee presented a future scenario of a newly democratic North Korea and started thinking of different ways of investing in this country. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) committee discussed three cases where they tried to reduce investment risks. The cases were Marco Gavazzi and Stefano Gavazzi v. Romania (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/25), Fábrica de Vidrios Los Andes, C. A and Owens- Illinois de Venezuela, C.A. v. the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/21), and Lotus Holding Anonim Sirketi v. Turkmenistan (ICSID Case No. ARB/17/30).

DAY 3

On the last day, the participants arrived for their last 2 committee sessions where they put all their ideas in order from the previous day and choose the best solutions for their specific problems. Together they started working on an Action Plan for their committee.

In the second half of the third day of RMWBG, the delegates presented their hard work to the Board of Directors, waiting on their approval. After each Action Plan passed, the Closing Ceremony began. The Closing Ceremony started off with the committee awards; there were three awards per committee: ”Best Participant”, ”Best Speaker”, and ”Honorable Mention”. Afterwards, a representative of UniApply showed up and presented the three best teams for the Startup Contest. Following, the recipients for the ”Best Speaker Overall” and ”Best Participant Overall” (who also received a scholarship for his first year of studies in the Netherlands) awards were announced. Reaching the end of the conference, Mr. Robert Dobre, Head of Retail Sales and Branches Network at OTP Bank took the floor and spoke about his experience in the field of economics. In the end, the organizing team delivered their speeches and declared the First Edition of Romanian Model World Bank Group closed.

Thank you !