Message from the Director November 2023

In 2023, the JVI has been running at full capacity, with all the courses delivered in the classroom in Vienna. The return to in-person training has been an uplifting experience! Demand for JVI training surged and course participants brought their enthusiasm, energy, and diversity to the JVI premises. Peer-learning and networking, two important aspects of the JVI experience, became much easier than during the Covid-19 pandemic. In other words, the JVI and its partners were again in the best possible conditions to support capacity building in public sector economic institutions in the countries of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, and Türkiye. 

We continue to be particularly grateful to the JVI’s Primary Members—the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—for their strong intellectual and financial support. Our Contributing Members—the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO)—as well as the European Commission have also provided critical support to the JVI over many years. In addition, JVI has benefited from its increasing cooperation with many other partners, such as the Deutsche Bundesbank, Banque de France, Bank of England, European Central Bank, US Federal Reserve, National Bank of Poland, National Bank of Slovakia, and International Labor Organization. 

Looking back at 2023. Eighty-four courses are expected to be delivered by the end of the year, with several of them for the first time, covering topics like Nowcasting, Building Institutions to Fight Corruption, or e-Commerce. The delivery of the flagship Applied Economic Policy course resumed in a completely new format blending online, virtual, and classroom delivery. Well-attended webinars have continued to be held, focusing on new emerging issues (e.g., the possible impact of geopolitics and economic and financial fragmentation) and on complementing courses in the JVI curriculum. 

What to expect in 2024. The JVI will offer next year a wide variety of hands-on, policy-oriented training courses, workshops, and webinars covering general macroeconomic issues; monetary, fiscal, financial, and structural policies; and various other specialized topics. Our curriculum will include new courses reflecting emerging needs, for instance on climate change, digitalization, and gender issues, but also long-lasting ones such as public investment management and revenue mobilization. The JVI and its partners will continue experimenting with new forms of delivery.

The IMF courses will provide a broad introduction to macroeconomic and financial sector management, with some of them focusing on more specific topics such as “GovTech”. The courses delivered by the Austrian Authorities will cover a broad range of issues such as financial stability, green finance, the green and digital transition, and public governance and reform issues, but also financial education and financial translation. Most of these courses include an important peer-learning component, as they build on Austria’s own experience and that of other EU countries, and they involve many practitioners. Our Contributing Members and the European Commission will offer courses or contribute to joint courses in their areas of expertise. The JVI will continue to join forces with other partners to mobilize their deep and broad expertise.

Our course schedule for 2024 can be found here. With over 50 course offerings that are free, self-paced, and entirely internet accessible, the IMF’s Online Learning Program is an excellent complement to JVI’s in-person training. 

We hope to see you soon in Vienna!

Hervé Joly
Director, Joint Vienna Institute
November 2023