 I'm very happy to be in Dublin for the very first time in my life, I'm very happy to be also in the room with you all and happy that it's this setting actually because I would like to engage in a conversation. I will try to give you some of the basic thinking back in Brussels and in general on connectivity a little bit then more detail on what EU is doing. We'll try to keep it rather short if possible because it's a huge theme because I would value your questions very much. I think this is always the best the best way to carry a conversation by getting questions and suggestions and I always you know I do a lot of outreach because this is a complex and comprehensive but an important new if you wish policy framework and every time I try to explain what connectivity is because it's different thing to different people you know something it's only digital something it's only railways something every time I sort of upgrade the explanation of what it is and use the picture of EU being a result of connectivity. We became who we are because we embraced connectivity as the logic of our development but then when I was lending last night I thought it will be easier to explain connectivity in Ireland. I think you have an inner understanding of the importance of being connected or or the disadvantage if the connectivity is not within your reach. As I said European Union itself became what it is because it embraced connectivity as the main logical things and we took it for granted this is something that we do and inside Europe definitely and many elements of it outside of Europe but only recently connectivity as such became one of the key issues that are discussed and I think is going to be one of the key policy trends of our century and there are number of reasons for that. First that connectivity itself is not value neutral so connectivity comes with a set of norms and standards that project the values we believe in like sustainability or transparency or just different different standards that we we cherish and we think are is important in that sense and it very quickly translates into a system so what we are talking about here is a system of values rules and norms that project who we are. Being that it by definition has security implications there are a number of security issues that that are opened through the discussion on connectivity from a global threat of climate change and what will happen to us if we will not look into sustainability of different connectivity investments etc to 5g to the question of of our sovereignty in terms of our supply chains to resilience of developing countries so there are a number of sort of security elements that we have to think about when we talk about connectivity and then also there are very important economic elements to the discussion on connectivity in terms of our own economic benefits and possibilities to the opportunities that it creates for developing countries we live in a world where today if you invest in the right sector if you wish or in the right kind of connectivity developing countries can jump a generation so we're not talking about potable water anymore we are not talking about basics we're talking about teaching kids the skills for the new century and this is where you can really help a country simply jump something that 20 years ago was was impossible we have to be very careful because we don't want to risk by not investing creating even larger larger divide between the developed and non-developed ones the needs for connectivity out there are really amazing we are reading of course a lot of research papers and there are some predictions that in the next 40 years more will be done for connectivity than in the history of humankind because of technology and the changes that technology will bring in the way we connect and we share our common space we can't even I think imagine half of it now so it's very important for us to be able to really think and plan not one but two generations ahead in terms of what is what is going to happen and then just in plain monetary terms there are predictions that annually and these are very conservative predictions globally at least two trillions are needed to catch up these are really conservative ones for Asia alone by 2030 26 trillion dollars I think for the needs and connectivity that they have the second reason why we're looking at this in a in this comprehensive way are the challenges that we are facing one I already mentioned these are enormous needs but also new kind of needs today it's much easier to see what good life or the quality of life looks like I'm told that in many parts of the world I mean there is hardly a ball but there is everybody has a mobile and they figure out how to they find ways to to get connected etc so you know the it's instant and your need becomes much more pronounced and much and much much more political if you wish because the political elites have to cater for the for the needs of the people and this are these are the needs that I think we partly failed to see and failed to understand and we have to say China was much quicker in understanding that sophisticated new infrastructure that this is what countries in development really want and not just a roof above their head so in that sense we still have some serious work to do in understanding and analyzing the second thing I already mentioned and it's a real challenge is the incredible pace of the technology change if you think artificial intelligence if you think Internet of Things if you think what is coming our way and also possibilities for these technologies to become disruptive at one point the need to regulate this is something that needs to be to be discussed and also I think understanding that those who will be the leaders in regulation will be the leaders in the world as well because this will be what what defines the world and then finally the new rivalries that are stemming from this this connectivity slash system discussion especially the standoff between US and China is a challenge to is a challenge to everyone because the global markets are so intertwined that it's very hard to fend them that they can separate so we have to find a way of being interoperable we have to find a way of working together and finding some kind of common denomination in certain key junctures and in a way it's it's interesting how the discussion on connectivity brought up to everyone the fact that multilateralism is a question of common sense because I don't know how else can you can you find a solution if not to do multilateral engagement approach and agreement and then finally for the EU why this is very much on our agenda because of what I believe are some incredible capacities that European Union has which have not been either pronounced well enough or visible at in the way they should be there is clearly a bit of a gap between these capacities and and and the projection or the visibility of them and I'll just give you a few few numbers and I think you will immediately understand what I'm talking about so 56% of global ODA so development assistance is provided by European Union and its member states in the last budget cycle the amount of ODA that EU and its member states have dispersed equals or is a little bit bigger than the amount of loans that were dispersed through BRI very few see it that way but that's the fact these are the OSCD numbers and the World Bank numbers so this is that is what is out there European Union provides the largest portion of foreign direct investment we are I'm pretty sure probably the most sophisticated we have probably the most sophisticated system of governance of differences because this is what you sort of regulatory framework is we learned how to find a solution for differences among our member states and have have a top notch regulatory system we are leading in many technologies in renewables we are leaders in a number of a number of sectors and we have a very deep financial pool when you look at the capital markets and what is available out there for investment at this very moment on the EU markets it's around 15 trillion euros that should be put to good use so what our task now is really to put all this together into a coherent comprehensive as strategic action in the way we use all these all these capacities and how in interaction with the recipient countries we create new value both for them and and for us in practical terms how European Union responded in October 2018 council adopted the strategy called connecting Europe in Asia building block for an EU strategy it started from Asia because this Euro Asian space if you wish is is a huge potential that is still untapped 70% of world population lives there it generates 60% of global GDP so you can imagine I mean we're talking about huge numbers here that still need to be explored much more the strategy itself can be summarized I will say 432 there are four pillars three work strengths through which we want to implement and two basic principles four pillars are transport energy digital and human connectivity three work strengths are building physical infrastructure securing finances and working in partnerships and two basic principles the principle of sustainability be it fiscal economic environmental or social sustainability and the level playing field so that all businesses have same absolutely same conditions for competing on in connectivity projects there are some very important decisions to be made in 2020 the first one is MFF so the next budget for the EU where there is a discussion on the so-called EF as the plus fund or European Fund for Sustainable Development which in essence just to simplify is an external investment guarantee facility where those businesses who that want to go into into developing countries get additional reassurance and rebalance the risk with this with this guarantee also there is a discussion there has been the so-called wise persons report on the financial development finance infrastructure in Europe because I think there is an understanding that we need to to focus all our inputs more and they were thinking of three different possibilities whether to I don't want to go into detail but whether to look at the EBRD as a possible institution that can be transformed into this or a big bang where EBRD, EIB and Commission could create a new institution or to create a subsidiary of the EIB that could be an institutional framework for for something that metaphorically is a European development investment bank basically and also we are now in the process of programming which means that we are looking at the world and designing sort of the basic ways in which the programming will work we're doing mainstreaming of connectivity projects across the world but in in making and all these decisions will have to be done more or less in 2020 MFF for sure and programming as well for the for the bank there might be a bit more more time but in making all these decisions we have to keep few things in mind first in order to be successful in connectivity you have to have a scale you have to have financial and technological scale you have to be big there are few powers that are big at that level globally European Union is certainly one of them but only when we are all together so for European Union togetherness is key and connectivity requires collaborative methodology this is not something that any of our member states can do fully alone the second is that key to success as well is to tap into private private capital we really need to do everything and find right ingredients to to to sort of get private businesses and private capital much more interested in the developing markets to incentivize them not only through the financial facilities but also through thinking what is the enabling environment that would be an additional argument for our businesses to go there whether it's regulatory predictability human resources everything that is linked with with sound investment private investment is key and finally connectivity is something that nobody in the world can do alone partnerships are needed by definition so we have been engaging with number of of countries and partners last September we have concluded a connectivity partnership with Japan we're now working on implementing that partnership we hope to have some very concrete deliverables also by by the summit this year this partnership we can talk a bit more in detail later but it has two known elements and to new to known our principles there is a full agreement on the basic principles between EU and Japan when it comes to sustainable connectivity and quality infrastructure and the second known are ongoing bilateral dialogues be it on transport and digital on everything that we do bilaterally and there are two novelties one is that we have identified geographies where we want to work together and in that in that agreement is the Western Balkans is the Eastern neighborhood its Central Asia is Africa and in the Pacific region and the second novelty is that we have also agreed that we will work together on further incentivizing private businesses in going together in third markets so we are looking at both if you wish the conceptual or the philosophical side of connectivity the policies side but also the mechanics of it as I said it's very complex so what we are trying to do is find the most of user-friendly ways of explaining but also utilizing what is in our in our hands it's really not that we need anything extra it's just that what we have we have to combine and then use in the right in the right way