“We hope the proposals and solutions to downsize the financial crisis, outlined in Chisinau, will be useful not only to the countries from the Central European Initiative (CEI), but also to other states,” said Piedro Ercole Ago, CEI's Secretary General, at a news conference, referring to the discussions at the round table of CEI economy ministers. According to Info-Prim Neo, heads of deputations and representatives of international bodies – WB, EBRD, the Organization for Economic Cooperationa nd Development – uttered speeches on the issue. They considered joining their efforts to solve regional and world economic issues. “At the CEI economic forum, we're going to expose our conclusions,” CEI's Secretary General said. The 11th Economic Forum of the CEI countries takes place on Thursday in Chisinau and is part of the events held as Moldova chairs this international arrangement. The same venue, the Republic's Palace, hosts the 5th edition of the International Investment Forum, an event organized by the Moldovan Government to promote Moldova's investment opportunities. CEI was founded in 1989 as an international forum for political, economic and cultural cooperation. Moldova became its member in 1996. CEI pursues to attract the member states in the common integration process, and in the wake of the EU's expansion, CEI attaches special attention to supporting the candidate countries in their European integration.