*Press release* Brussels/Vienna 3rd October 2014 – The European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) has invited global leaders from the chemical industry to its 48th annual meeting, taking place 4-8 October 2014 in Vienna. Directly and indirectly, more than 5000 people from over 50 different countries will convene in Vienna for the conference, the largest chemical industry meeting in the world, held this year under the banner of “Global Competitiveness and the Chemical Industry. What About Europe?”. Executives and board members from over 700 EPCA member companies, and other high-ranking guests, will be among attendees. The five-day event will allow guests to conduct face-to-face meetings to strengthen their cooperation, and to take part in networking events. We are particularly excited to announce that Prof. Joseph E. Stiglitz, Professor at Columbia University and winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics and a lead author of the 1995 IPCC report, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, along with other eminent speakers on a variety of topics. These speakers include Graham van´t Hoff, Executive Vice-President of Shell Chemicals, Daniele Ferrari, Chief Executive Officer of Versalis SpA and Chairman of Matrica SpA, Prof. Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor at Columbia University, as well as Chief Economist and Senior Director of the World Economic Forum in Davos. *EPCA’s strong commitment to education and the promotion of science* We have brought with us the XperiLAB.be® mobile laboratory, a learning vehicle from Belgium that aims to inspire children and create enthusiasm about science from a young age. Students aged 10 to 14 will be invited to journey into the world of biology, chemistry and physics, completely free of charge. Under supervision, the students will be able to conduct nine different experiments, including to create toothpaste. Access to the XperiLAB.be® will be open to the public and free of charge on the weekend (4-5 October, 2014, from 10am to 5pm.)