Agenda 2024

A chance to kick off The CEE Summit 10th Anniversary Conference and celebrate the 10 years of the conference as well as the significant milestones of the 25th anniversary of joining NATO and the 20th anniversary of joining the European Union.

Network with local and international participants of the CEE Summit in Warsaw’s (and the European Union’s) highest building, and soak up the panoramic views of Poland’s capital city!

The latest edition of The Poland Observer’s annual film showing the future of the real estate market in Poland. This will be the second public showing of the film after its premiere at MIPIM in March.

Introduction to the 10th anniversary CEE Summit conference by the event hosts.

Michał Stępien, Deputy CEO, AFI Europe Poland – a Main Partner of The CEE Summit 2024

What are the key macro trends driving global investment markets? With multiple elections in 2024, including the US & UK, how might these influence international business confidence and investment strategy? With a new government in place in Poland, Hungary taking over the Presidency of the EU Council in 2H 2024, and with the ongoing war in Ukraine, how are these and other events affecting the business & investment climate in the CEE region in the short & longer term.

Investors and valuers have long wondered how ESG indicators impact real estate values. Given the huge climate and social challenges we face globally, we need to move to a market where ESG is firmly embedded and reflected in valuations, and valuers need to assess ESG as a new and significant risk & value driver in their professional judgement of any property. What are the ESG factors that are currently influencing asset pricing? How is the ESG data list, an industry initiative led by RICS, an important step forward in assessing sustainability performance in property valuations, and how can it help ensure that investors, occupiers and lenders operate on a level playing field?

Leading experts from the CEE region and international markets discuss what the global economic, business and real estate trends mean for financing, development and investment on the ground in the CEE. What are the implications for supply and demand? How are tenant requirements changing? What does this mean for sectors and investment locations? What are the short and longer-term opportunities in the market?

Over the past 10 years, CEE real estate markets have been very dynamic and continue to offer different opportunities across the region. Looking ahead, which are the main growth sectors and which investment strategies will generate the best returns. Will we see REITS finally in Poland? How could this influence the market?

Ukrainian companies and International Financial Institutions are not waiting for the war to end to start planning for postwar reconstruction, and nor should the private sector. What current opportunities exist? What can a company that is operational in Ukraine tell us about the reality of investing there? What protections and incentives exist for international investors? What will be the role of the private sector in the post-war real estate and infrastructure reconstruction? What are the potential scenarios for postwar migration by refugees and IDPs, and how might this affect the residential sector? What other sectors offer potential for international investors?

ADLO – the Oradea Local Development Agency – is one of thousands of agencies around the world charged with attracting international investors. How do they approach this, and how do they carve out a unique offering and stand out from the crowd – in Romania, in Europe and on the international stage. What are the challenges faced on the ground, in meeting local expectations and investor demands. Alina Silaghi, General Manager of ADLO, sits down with Courtney Fingar for a chat.

It’s been a long journey so far, and there’s a long way still to go, but there are clear signs that the government will seek to pass the legislation needed for REITs to be established in Poland, potentially transforming the market. Or will REITs actually transform the market? Do expectations need to be managed? What collective advice should the Polish real estate market give the government? In this short panel, the speakers will look at where things stand now, and what potentially lies ahead.

The breakout sessions focus on specific topics, sectors, locations and key trends. In each room, the session opens with a presentation or welcome comments by leading experts and continues with informal, dynamic discussions where participants share opinions and perspectives with industry peers from both local and international markets.

In each breakout session there will be up to four session leaders as well as designated speakers. Conference partners choose the session that they would like to attend.

* breakout session topics may change or additional sessions added to meet demand. If you would like to be involved in leading a breakout session, please contact Richard Stephens or Richard Betts.

In the dim, distant past (just a few years ago), the office, retail and residential sectors rarely crossed paths, and only if they had to. Offices stood proudly alone, shopping centres did their own thing, and residential kept to itself. All that has changed. Mixed-use is the thing, and the three sectors need to work together to ‘Make Places’. How has the office sector in Poland & CEE adapted to the most sweeping changes to employee work patterns and occupier attitudes in decades, and what does the future hold for this crucial sector in the region? Is 2024 the year that CEE retail comes back into focus for investors, and can CEE retailers and retail developers approach the years ahead with renewed confidence? With the development of the mainstream Polish residential sector showing no signs of abating any time soon, this segment of the market is no longer being ignored by international commercial investors. How much space is there in this sector, what are the factors that will influence its development, and where are the opportunities? Concerning PRS, what are the prospects for a sector that has put down roots but is still to get fully up and running? And how is Romania embracing and embodying the trend towards Placemaking?

After the heady days of dramatic growth and seismic changes to the global supply chain of the pandemic and immediate post-pandemic period, 2023 & the first part of 2024 have seen the sector come back down to earth. What do the trends mean for Poland and CEE? What is the impact on the region’s warehouse & logistics sector? While the focus will naturally be on the main CE markets of Poland, Hungary, Czech & Romania, this session will also take a look at Croatia and the Balkan countries, to see how they fit into the European supply chain.

Can Poland & CEE fill in the missing links in the ‘cradle to grave’ Living sector: student housing to senior housing via co-living – and everything in between? Can senior housing copy & paste from student housing, simply adding the necessary extras, or is it a totally different ball game? In what ways are CEE countries similar to Western countries, and in what ways are they different? How much depth is there to the student housing, senior living and co-living sectors in CEE countries? What are the similarities between the CEE countries, and what are the differences?

What should you be doing to future-proof your investments? The initial hubbub about ESG has died down a bit, and the serious business of implementation and adaptation has begun. As the market gets to grips with what the fulfilment of ESG obligations entails, what effect it will have on the real estate market, and how much it will cost, this session will discuss these topics and more.

Significant changes are afoot, with the Polish government signaling that it wants to create the regulatory and legislative conditions for the long, long, long-awaited REITs to be introduced to Poland, and not only in the residential sector. The enormous effect this would have on Poland’s commercial property industry – which has relied almost exclusively on international capital to fuel its incredible development over the past couple of decades – has the market salivating. But what is still to play for, and what form is the final legislation likely to take?

This session is invitation-only. If you would like to take part, please contact the organizers.

Breakout session leaders come to the main stage to tell conference participants, in a nutshell, about the key findings from their session, allowing the audience to catch up with developments across a whole range of sectors, locations and topics.

The history of the modern real estate market in the CEE region can be traced through the investment deals that marked the ebbs & flows, high watermarks and low tides of the different sectors – and the people and companies behind them. The deals reflected the dynamics of the time – from the huge new shopping centres and the early offices, pre-let before the first spade had even struck the earth, to the more recent rise of the warehouse sector juggernaut and the liquidity gap.

In this session, we will look back at some of the landmark deals that set the market alight in their day, and talk to the people behind them. We will also reflect on the present investment situation, and look at what lies ahead.

17.45 VOTING & ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CEE INVESTMENT DEAL

Now… the audience will decide: which deal was the most influential?

Round by round, the list will be narrowed down until only THE WINNER remains.

Don’t miss what will be a fun but reflective – and educational – session to round off the day.