Member Article

Global Economic Forum to explore international economic policies and business opportunities

The International Business and Diplomatic Exchange (IBDE) is to bring together more than 200 business leaders alongside distinguished speakers at the Global Economic Forum 2014, a key event in the International Festival for Business (IFB) 2014; which provides an excellent platform to explore strategic business and investment opportunities worldwide.

The Prime Minister, Rt Hon David Cameron said: “This is the biggest showcase of British business since 1951. It’s a shop window for enterprise, for innovation, for creativity.”

The Forum will bring together senior decision-makers, business people, institutional investors, investment promotion agencies, trade and exports finance professionals, chambers’ of commerce, investment managers, senior diplomats, trade, economic and financial experts and the media.

The Forum will also provide the delegates and the media an opportunity to hear from more than 30 prominent international speakers, including:

● H.E. Nikola Gruevski, Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia

● Hon. William A. Bell Sr., Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, United States

● Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive, Manchester City Council

● Sir Michael Rake, Chairman, BT Group

● Luis Alvarez, CEO, BT Global Services

● John Carroll, Head of International, Santander

● Sir Thomas Harris, Vice Chairman, Asia, Standard Chartered Bank

● Mark Cliffe, Chief Economist, ING Group

● John Allan, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses

Also among the speakers is, Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson OBE, who said “We now live in a truly international economy. IFB 2014 is the place for people to establish and develop international business connections and for the global business community to discuss the best ways to create sustainable economic growth to secure our future prosperity.”

Organised as an integral part of the IFB 2014, the Global Economic Forum will provide a unique opportunity for business leaders to share their wealth of knowledge and expertise. Sir Mike Rake, Chairman of BT Group, who will be speaking at the Forum, said: “We are proud to be supporting the International Festival for Business, which is a great platform to showcase the best of British to the world.”

John Carroll, Head of International at Santander said: “Trading internationally is a fantastic way for companies to strengthen their businesses. The International Festival for Business 2014 offers a great chance to give British businesses a boost and help meet their international growth ambitions.”

Lord Michael Heseltine will be speaking at the forum, discussing “Challenges in doing business internationally”. With a career spanning over half a century at the helm of politics and business, Lord Heseltine brings together the expertise for business and policy makers.

Lord Heseltine said: “IFB 2014 will be a wonderful showcase for the city and it is a pleasure to be involved in both its business and cultural programmes.”

Rudi Guraziu, CEO of IBDE said: “The past two decades have witnessed both tremendous change and tremendous growth in countries across the globe including the UK. Despite the fact that the impact of the economic crisis was not geographically universal it is clear that the European economic stasis has had a profound impact on global economic growth.

“Most advanced economies need to stimulate economic growth to reduce deficits and debt, but growth requires investment, and investment levels have not been significant, despite some positive development in the UK, Europe in general and the United States. We are looking forward to welcome such a diverse number of distinguished speakers who will be able to explore these and other issues in detail”.

IBDE is an official international partner of IFB 2014 and will be playing a key role at the Festival hosting a number of high-level activities including the 5th International Banking and Finance Forum - Restoring Growth and Confidence in World Markets, to take place on 2 July 2014 at the Hilton Hotel, Liverpool.

In addition, IBDE, in partnership with a number of European investment agencies, will showcase trade and investment opportunities at the IFB HUB during Europe week, from 16 to 20 June 2014. Attendance is free of charge.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .