Gruni Professors Mariam Lashkhi and Vakhtang Charaya attended the "45th International Symposium on Forecasting" in Beijing, China.

Prof. Vakhtang Charaya delivered a presentation on the topic: "Non-Bank Financial Operations in Emerging Markets and Consequences for the Financial System". He was also honored to chair one of the sessions, namely: "Government Forecasting".

Mariam Lashkh presented a report on the topic: "Shadow Banking, Threat or Opportunity for the Developing Countries. Both reports were highly appreciated and the organizers invited her to next year's symposium.

The Forecasting Symposium is an annual event with more than 40 years of experience. In 2025, it was attended by more than 500 representatives from 35 countries, from both government and business circles, and of course academia. The list of companies represented included: Elsevier, SAS, Accenture, Microsoft, Amazon, Walmart Labs, The Conference Board, IHS Eviews, Google, Meta, Timberlake, Kinaxis, Uber and many others.