AUSTRIA CONNECT NORTH AMERICA 2020 13th Annual Conference December 3rd, 2020 www.advantageaustria.org/us Welcome to the first virtual AUSTRIA CONNECT NORTH AMERICA, the largest conference for U.S. Newcomers and Executives of Austrian Subsidiaries in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. AUSTRIA CONNECT NORTH AMERICA 2020 DECISIONS 2020 – WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? At the beginning of 2020, we expected a year full of challenges and changes; a year marked by an intensive election in the U.S.; yet another year of exciting business delegations, trend-setting conferences and crowded trade fairs. No one could have predicted how our daily lives, our work environment would change, and that phrases like “flatten the curve” or “social distancing” would make it into our everyday Michael Friedl, New York conversations. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 on people’s lives in the U.S. and globally, the expected recession on the North American continent and all the challenges businesses have to face, Austrian companies and organizations have continued to express a lot of interest in North America as a market and a destination for investment. Especially with Peter Sedlmayer, USMCA in force since July 2020, together with my colleagues in the U.S., Canada and Chicago Mexico, we want to again provide a platform to help Austrian companies, that are first- time explorers, understand the North American market and at the same time facilitate an exchange between our long-standing Austrian subsidiaries here. Therefore, we are happy to welcome you the 13th AUSTRIA CONNECT North America. While this year we will not have the chance to see each other in-person, this will Walter Koren, hopefully not prevent us from getting together digitally on December 3rd, 2020. Los Angeles The title of this year is „Decisions 2020 – What will the Future hold?”. When we started planning the program right after last year’s conference, we wanted to host all of you in the Nation’s capital Washington DC and discuss the impact of the elections and possible changes afterwards. Now we are looking at a new set of “decisions” and skills that are necessary to move forward such as how to encourage innovation, entrepreneurship in Irene Lack-Hageneder your business and enhance security in times of completely changing work Washington, D.C. environments, new urban realities and entirely unexpected ways to communicate with each other. Our speakers this year will help us understand and cope with the current challenges and changes. We might learn how the arrival (and hopefully soon extinction) of a pandemic impacts our perspectives and how our decision-making processes may be Christian Lassnig, Toronto adapted to these challenges, be they in societal, economic or technological terms. I am looking forward to seeing you virtually very soon! Michael Friedl Nella Hengstler, Austrian Trade Commissioner in New York Mexico City Last edit: 30.11.2020 PROGRAM (TIMES IN CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME) PART 1 FAST TRACK USA 2020 FOR NEW EXPORTERS AND INVESTORS CET 13:45 ADMISSION TO THE PLATFORM EST 07:45 13:50 – 14:00 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION TO THE CONFERENCE PLATFORM Daniel ZAWARCZYNSKI | Deputy Trade Commissioner in New York 14:00 – 14:05 WELCOME STATEMENT BY AUSTRIAN FEDERAL ECONOMIC CHAMBER Michael OTTER | Head of AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA 14:05 – 14:10 WELCOME STATEMENT BY U.S. EMBASSY IN VIENNA Julia RAUNER GUERRERO | United States Commercial Counsellor to Austria, U.S. Embassy Austria 14:10 – 14:30 WINDOWS TO NORTH AMERICA Introduction by the Austrian Trade Commissioners in North America Michael FRIEDL | New York Walter KOREN | Los Angeles Peter SEDLMAYER | Chicago Irene LACK-HAGENEDER | Washington Nella HENGSTLER | Mexiko Christian LASSNIG | Toronto 14:30 – 15:30 PANEL: DOING BUSINESS IN THE USA Moderation: Anton EMSENHUBER | Deputy Trade Commissioner in Los Angeles Tycho STAHL | Partner, Arnall Golden Gregory Horst LIEBL | President, TaxPoint, Inc. Christian ZELLER | Managing Partner, Maney | Gordon | Zeller, P.A. Gregor VOGRIN | Managing Partner, Syngroup Management Consulting, LLC Q & A at the end of the panel Last edit: 30.11.2020 15:30 – 16:30 FOCUS: STATE OF THE INDUSTRY – AND HOW TO INVEST Moderation: Peter SEDLMAYER | Austrian Trade Commissioner in Chicago Reshoring and its Impact on the U.S. Economy Harry MOSER | Founder and President, the Reshoring Initiative The current state of the U.S. automotive industry – Opportunities in the supply chain Bernard SWIECKI | Director, Automotive Communities Partnership (ACP), Center for Automotive Research Investing in the USA Sergio DOMINGUES | President, Council of American States in Europe Q & A at the end of the panel 16:30 – 17:00 NETWORKING AND SPONSOR EXPO BREAK Arrange 1-on-1 video calls or join the spontaneous Speed-Networking to meet new people. Visit the partner booths to meet the experts and talk logistics, legal, finance and more. 17:00 – 18:00 PANEL: THE FUTURE OF SILICON VALLEY Moderation: Georg FÜRLINGER | Head at OPEN AUSTRIA San Francisco Sean RANDOLPH | Senior Director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute Rick RASMUSSEN | Industry Fellow, UC Berkeley Stefan LEDERER | Founder and CEO, Bitmovin Q & A at the end of the panel 18:00 – 18:40 BEST PRACTICE ROUNDTABLE: INSIGHTS FROM AUSTRIAN MANAGERS IN NORTH AMERICA Moderation: Nella HENGSTLER | Austrian Trade Commissioner in Mexico Gerald JOBST | CFO, EGGER Wood Products, USA Stefan POLLMANN | Managing Director, Pollmann de Mexico Aleksandar STANOJEVIC | Vice President Operations, STARLIM North American Corporation, Canada Q & A at the end of the panel 18:40 – 19:00 NETWORKING AND SPONSOR EXPO Arrange 1-on-1 video calls or join the spontaneous Speed-Networking to meet new people. Visit the partner booths to meet the experts and talk logistics, legal, finance and more. Last edit: 30.11.2020 PART 2 AUSTRIA CONNECT NORTH AMERICA DECISIONS 2020 – WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? EST 13:00 – 13:06 INTRODUCTION AND OPENING OF AUSTRIA CONNECT NORTH AMERICA “PART 2” CET 19:00 – 19:06 Michael FRIEDL | Austrian Trade Commissioner in New York City EST 13:06 – 13:10 OPENING STATEMENT BY THE AUSTRIAN FEDERAL ECONOMIC CHAMBER CET 19:06 – 19:10 Harald MAHRER | President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber EST 13:10 – 13:14 OPENING STATEMENT BY THE US EMBASSY IN VIENNA CET 19:10 – 19:14 Trevor TRAINA | United States Ambassador to the Republic of Austria EST 13:14 – 13:18 OPENING STATEMENT BY THE AUSTRIAN EMBASSY CET 19:14 – 19:18 Martin WEISS | Austrian Ambassador to the United States EST 13:18 – 13:20 WELCOMING REMARKS CET 19:18 – 19:20 Margarete SCHRAMBÖCK | Austrian Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs EST 13:20 – 13:50 NORTH AMERICAN ECONOMIC OUTLOOK CET 19:20 – 19:50 Moderation: Michael FRIEDL | Austrian Trade Commissioner in New York City William REINSCH | Scholl Chair and Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic and International Studies Q & A at the end of the keynote EST 13:50 – 14:30 U.S. POLITICAL ANALYSIS AND IMPLICATION FOR NORTH AMERICA | FIRESIDE CHAT CET 19:50 – 20:30 Moderation: Irene LACK-HAGENEDER | Austrian Trade Commissioner in Washington Hannelore VEIT | Chief, Washington D.C. Bureau - Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF Daniel HAMILTON | Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Professor, John Hopkins University Ambassador Arturo SARUKHÁN | Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. (2007-2013) and President, Sarukhan + Associates LLC Q & A at the end of the session EST 14:30 – 15:00 DISRUPTION HAS EVOLVED BUT INNOVATION HASN’T CET 20:30 – 21:00 Moderation: Daniel ZAWARCZYNSKI | Deputy Trade Commissioner in New York Greg LARKIN | Best-selling Author and Founder, Punks & Pinstripes Q & A at the end of the session Last edit: 30.11.2020 EST 15:00 – 15:30 CYBER CONFLICTS AND THE EXPANSION OF THE GRAY ZONE CET 21:00 – 21:30 Moderation: Daniel ZAWARCZYNSKI | Deputy Trade Commissioner in New York David LASHWAY | Partner and Global Co-Chair Cybersecurity, Baker McKenzie Q & A at the end of the session EST 15:30 – 16:00 WHERE TO FOR THE U.S. HEALTH CARE REFORM CET 21:30 – 22:00 Moderation: Daniel MÖRTL | Technology Officer, Austrian Trade Commission New York Jonathan GRUBER | Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics Q & A at the end of the session EST 16:00 – 16:40 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT – NECESSARY SKILLS AND THE FUTURE OF WORK CET 22:00 – 22:40 Moderation: Daniel ZAWARCZYNSKI | Deputy Trade Commissioner in New York Sean NESS | Director Business Development, Institute for the Future (IFTF) Q & A at the end of the session EST 16:40 – 16:50 WRAP-UP OF THE AUSTRIA CONNECT 2020 AND OPENING OF THE NETWORKING CET 22:40 – 22:50 Michael FRIEDL | Austrian Trade Commissioner in New York City EST 16:50 – 18:00 NETWORKING AND EXPO CET 22:50 – 24:00 Arrange 1-on-1 video calls or join the spontaneous Speed-Networking to meet new people. Visit the partner booths to meet the experts and talk logistics, legal, finance and more. Last edit: 30.11.2020 SPEAKERS – AUSTRIA CONNECT NORTH AMERICA 2020 Sergio Domingues President, Council of American States in Europe Linkedin | http://www.invest-in-usa.org/ Jonathan Gruber Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics Profile Daniel Hamilton Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Professor, John Hopkins University Linkedin Gerald Jobst CFO, EGGER Wood Products, USA Website Greg Larkin Best-selling Author and Founder, Punks & Pinstripes Linkedin David Lashway Partner and Global Co-Chair Cybersecurity, Baker McKenzie Linkedin | Website Stefan Lederer Founder and CEO, Bitmovin Linkedin | Website Horst Liebl President, TaxPoint, Inc. Linkedin Harald Mahrer President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Website Last edit: 30.11.2020 Harry Moser Founder and President, the Reshoring Initiative Linkedin | Website Sean Ness Director Business Development, Institute for the Future (IFTF) Linkedin | Website Michael Otter Head of AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA Linkedin | Website Stefan Pollmann Managing Director, Pollmann de Mexico Linkedin | Website Sean Randolph Senior Director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute Linkedin | Website Rick Rasmussen Industry Fellow, UC Berkeley Linkedin Julia Rauner Guerrero United States Commercial Counsellor to Austria, U.S.