Austrian National Bank Governor Engages with JVI Staff and Course Participants

Prof. Dr. Robert Holzmann, Governor of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), visited the JVI on January 31. Governor Holzmann was a speaker at several events organized at the JVI in past years, including two in 2023 (Annual Lecture and Seminar on inflation and labor markets). This visit, however, focused on different matters: after a tour of the facilities, which are provided to the JVI by the Austrian authorities, Governor Holzmann met with JVI staff and course participants.

The discussion with staff focused on opportunities and challenges facing JVI training. JVI staff reported on the feedback from JVI stakeholders, such as training directors in counterpart institutions and alumni. The shift in the geographic origin of demand, with an increasing share of participants from countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, was also discussed. Staff reported on the various experiments with new forms of delivery. There was a consensus that webinars had been very successful, while the experience with occasional remote lecturing and short hybrid events (with some participants in the classroom and others joining remotely) was overall positive, although not without challenges. There was broad agreement that classroom delivery should remain at the core of the JVI business model; however, better blending of classroom, online, and virtual delivery could enhance the training experience and learning gains. JVI staff presented a number of blending experiments, such as the new Applied Economic Policy course and Financial Programming and Policies course. More experiments, like blended cohort training, are on the way.

Governor Holzmann also participated in a session of the OeNB course on Financial Education, attended by officials from central banks and ministries with a background in communication, banking and/or economics. Governor Holzmann kicked off a panel discussion by offering his views on why financial education matters, what broad issues it should try to address, and how best to do it. The session was moderated by Stefan Humer (OeNB) and also featured Prof. Bettina Fuhrmann (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Prof. Michael Razen (Management Center Innsbruck), and Hervé Joly (JVI director). 

During the discussions, course participants and JVI staff expressed their gratitude to the Austrian authorities for strong and continuous support to the JVI. 

Herve Joly, Director, JVI