Innovation Business Development, Inc.

Executive Level Sustainability Business Consulting

Balkonnect 2025

Balkonnect conference was held in Pristina, Kosovo on May 23-24, 2025. Dr. Thota and Mr. Jensen were 2 of the 4 organizers of Balkonnect. The conference focuses on businesses in the the Western Balkan 6 (WB6), which includes: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, N. Macedonia and Serbia. Balkonnect’s purpose is 2 fold.

  1. To increase transregional trade of goods and services between WB6 countries.

  2. To showcase WB6 business to the World.

We had attendees from over 50 countries and IBD Sustainability focused on Renewable energy, the circular economy and outsourcing of regional talent.

See Dr. Thota’s LinkedIn article:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-grand-challenge-build-sustainable-future-together-hamsa-thota-q12re/?trackingId=%2FyUGw8GZaHfWj%2FiN43VCUA%3D%3D

AIM CONGRESS 2025 - ABU DHABI - APRIL 7-9

IBD Sustainability at AIM

Dr. Thota and Mr. Jensen spoke at AIM Congress in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Dr. Thota taught a Masterclass on ‘Green Manufacturing Investments: ROI and Impact.’ Dr. Thota discussed four success factors for sustainability practices in green manufacturing, redefined ROI success as achieving sustainable growth with profit while creating value in the ecological and social systems the business operates and proposed a new EES Value creation metric to provide necessary options for companies to engage in sustainable value creation practices while ensuring accountability and transparency.

Investment in green manufacturing is a strategic choice that delivers measurable ROI and environmental impact.

Mr. Jensen led a one-on-one panel discussion regarding ‘Green Bonds, Impact Investing and Blended Finance: The Future of FDI’. The discussion highlighted ways to attract FDI in emerging sectors while giving real-life examples of how others can replicate certain models. Starting at 30,000-meter level the discussion examined the current macro-FDI ecosystem. We ended at 1-meter level of success stories in Paraguay, the U.S. and Africa. Finally, we had a quick, but highly interactive Q&A session aiding folks with personalized questions.

Dr. Thota and Mr. Jensen networked with business leaders, governmental officials, and diplomats. IBD Sustainability met with attendees from 5 continents and over 30 different countries across business sectors and professional domains.

To learn more about our session, please visit the links below.

Sincerely,

IBD Sustainability

Dr. Hamsa Thota’s Session

https://www.aimcongress.com/agenda/detail?id=e95199e8-b4d6-465a-ab88-4cdfecc2c9c4&portfolio=global-manufacturing

Mr. Mark Jensen’s Session

https://www.aimcongress.com/agenda/detail?id=e6534ca6-b4a7-44d9-acc4-7f3179b96bc9&portfolio=foreign-direct-investment