Kraków reached the finals of the competition for organising E-AHPBA congress in 2025!
Kraków was included in the so-called shortlist, i.e., the final stage of applying for the rights to organise the E-AHPBA Congress (European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association) in 2025. Symposium Cracoviense together with the Ambassador of Polish Congresses, Professor Krzysztof Zieniewicz, have initiated the works aiming to bring this prestigious event to Poland, as they have applied for the second time.
The E-AHPBA International Association was founded in 1999 and now has over 1000 members from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The primary objective of the Association is to provide an international forum to present the latest scientific developments in HPB surgery. E-AHPBA also supports the educational and scientific activities of its members and strategic partners. Professor Krzysztof Zieniewicz, Head of the Department of General, Transplant and Liver Surgery of the Medical University of Warsaw, acting as the Ambassador of Polish Congresses since 2015, is also a Member of the Board of Directors of E-AHPBA Membership Committee Chair.
The E-AHPBA Congress has never been held in Poland before. It is organised every 2 years and each time gathers over 1000 participants from all over the world.
Poland's first offer was presented at the 2019 E-AHPBA Congress in Amsterdam, where Professor Zieniewicz spoke together with Anna Gorska, Board Advisor at Symposium Cracoviense. ‘At the time, we lost to Lyon in France, where the congress will be held in 2023,’ Anna Gorska says. ‘Despite our loss, the presentation itself was a particularly enlightening experience, and the fact that we are now making a second attempt and thus showing our commitment and consistency in pursuit of our goal was received by the E-AHPBA Board very well, and it greatly increases our chances of winning,’ Gorska adds.
This year Krakow is competing with Dublin and London. All three cities selected for the finals will present their offers at the Virtual Congress in Bilbao, Spain on 14 September 2021. The presentation will be held as a pre-recorded video followed by a Q&A session with the presenters. Following the vote, the decision regarding the location for the 2025 congress will be announced at a virtual General Members' Meeting on 17 September.
Despite the pandemic, Symposium Cracoviense, a PCO operating in Poland for over 23 years, continues its active efforts to attract prestigious congresses to Poland. It is already involved in the bidding processes for multiple other international events. The company is a member of ICCA International Congress and Convention Association, SKKP Polish Congress & Conference Association and WOT Warsaw Tourism Organisation, and it received the recommendation of the Krakow Convention Bureau and Polish Tourism Organisation. Poland's bid for the E-AHPBA 2025 Congress in Krakow has received support from the President of the Polish Tourism Organisation and the Mayor of Krakow.
Author: Anna Górska