Pan-European Institute
The Pan-European Institute (PEI) (Finnish Pan-Eurooppa Instituutti) is a Finnish research institute at Turku School of Economics, in Turku, Finland. PEI observes developments within the European economy and business with special interest lies on the Baltic Sea region and its neighbouring countries such as Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Kari Liuhto is director and is assisted by an advisory board of 12 members. The Pan-European Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012 by organising a high-level seminar "The Baltic Sea region 2025".
Research, education, and partnerships
The research conducted by PEI is for external purposes, as well as internal. Cooperation has been successful on the national arena with the Academy of Finland, several Finnish ministries, the Parliament of Finland and the Prime Minister’s Office. Abroad, partners have been the European Commission, the European Parliament, the United Nations, and the World Bank.
The research also provides a foundation for the education provided at Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku. The Pan-European Institute provides several university courses in English within the subject of International Business. The institute is also a partner of the European Studies programme and the Baltic Sea Business & Society programme.
Research at PEI has five focus areas:
- Economic and business development in the Baltic Sea region
- Economic relations between EU and its bordering nations with special attention on Russia, Kaliningrad, and the Northern Dimension
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into and outflow from Russia
- Regional and social development in Europe
- Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the EU and its eastern neighbours
Economic and security monitoring
PEI especially monitors economic development in these areas:
- The Baltic Sea region: The quarterly discussion forum Baltic Rim Economies (BRE) focuses on the development of the Baltic Sea region. In BRE, high-level public and corporate decision makers, representatives of academia and several other experts participate.
- Russian regions and regional centres as well as European emerging markets: for these markets, PEI provides visual information packages with economic information in a nutshell. The packages are mainly aimed at foreign investors and international companies.
- International operations of Russian firms: Due to increased significance of Russian companies in Finland, the Pan-European Institute follows international operations of Russian firms and their impact on Finnish business.
Through a partnership with the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, PEI has monitored the security development (2010-2011) in Europe. The regions covered in this biannual review are the Western CIS (Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus), the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan).
References
The Pan-European Institute's website