Invited guests
Medical doctor, director of companies. First Vice President of the Robert Schuman Institute for Europe, former auditor of the Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence (IHEDN) and of the Center of Diplomatic and Strategic Studies (CEDS).
Participation
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2021 2022 2023
Prime Minister of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire since March 2021. He previously served as Secretary General of the Presidency and then Minister of State. He was also simultaneously Executive Secretary of the National Council for Economic Policy in charge of the 2030 Strategic Plan and the 5-year government program “Côte d’Ivoire Solidaire 2021-2025”. Prior to that, he served as Minister of Economic Infrastructure. Before joining the public service, acquired significant experience in the private sector both as an entrepreneur and consultant in strategy and management. He holds a master’s degree in physics from the University of Cocody in Côte d’Ivoire, an engineering degree from the École supérieure d’électricité (Supélec) and a master’s degree in management from Stanford University.
Participation
2021
Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon. He received his academic education in France, attending the Sorbonne in Paris, before continuing his studies at the Catholic Institute and the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute. He was ordained a priest in 1985, he continued his doctoral studies at the Holy Cross Institute of Theology in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. In 1995, he was appointed director of the Office of the Orthodox Church to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. After being elected Metropolitan of France, he served as Vice President and President of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) as well as Co-President of the Council of Christian Churches in France. In February 2021 he was unanimously elected Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon. He is Co-Moderator of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of KAICIID.
Participation
2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
President of the Center for Global Development since January 2017. He enjoys a 35-year career driving economic development policy initiatives relating to debt, aid effectiveness, trade, and global economic prospects at major international institutions including the IMF, the World Bank, and the DFID. He served for eight years as Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department, earning praise from Managing Director Christine Lagarde as a “visionary leader.” In previous years, he also served as the IMF’s director of External Relations, and Deputy Director of the Policy Development and Review Department. From 2003-2006, Ahmed served as Director General, Policy and International at the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID). Ahmed also worked at the World Bank from 1979-2000 in various managerial and economist positions, rising to become Vice President of Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. In January 2023, he received a knighthood (KCMG) from the UK government for his services to international development.
Participation
2013 2015 2016 2017 2021 2022 2023
Commentator of Nikkei. He regularly writes commentaries and columns, analysis mainly on foreign & international security affairs. He joined Nikkei in 1987 and worked at Political News Dept. where he covered Japanese foreign & security policies, domestic politics. He was Senior & Editorial Staff Writer, and he also worked at “Leader Writing Team ” of the Financial Times in London (Oct.-Dec. 17). Previously, he was Beijing Correspondent and Washington Chief Correspondent. In Beijing, he reported major news events such as death of Deng Xiaoping, Hong Kong handover to China. In Washington DC, he covered White House & Pentagon, State Department during Bush administration.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Former Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to France and Germany. Prior to that, he was Director of the European Affairs Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looking after bilateral relations. Before joining the Ministry, he held major positions in the field of Media and Communications.
Participation
2021
Her Excellency Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri is the UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency. In her role as Minister of State for Advanced Technology, H.E. spearheads the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology’s efforts to empower the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and promote research and development in the advanced science and technology sector, to create new industries that drive the shift towards a knowledge-based economy. This, in turn, contributes to the overall mandate of the Ministry to strengthen the UAE’s industrial base, ensure in-country value, and raise the competitiveness of local industries. As Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, H.E. is responsible to oversee the Agency’s mandate of pioneering the space sector, ensuring its contribution to the national economy and to the UAE’s sustainable development. Prior to her Ministerial role, H.E. was the Director of Research and Development at MBRSC, where she established the Centre’s Knowledge and Research Department and put in place product assurance and functionality systems. She was also involved in DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, and in the project development for KhalifaSat. H.E. Sarah Al Amiri holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from the American University of Sharjah.
Participation
2021
Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Arab Emirates. Previously, he served as Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti and Permanent Representative of the Sultanate of Oman to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. His Excellency Dr. Al Busaidi started his diplomatic career in 1983 as Second Secretary in the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Muscat, then as First Secretary in the Omani Embassy in Cairo. In 1988, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Muscat as Director of the Political and Economic Affairs Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council, before being promoted to Director of the Middle East and Iran Desk in 2000. In 2004, he became Deputy Head of the Arab Department for Gulf Cooperation Council Affairs. H.E. Dr. Ahmed bin Hilal Al Busaidi holds a MSC in Economic Development and International Trade from the University of Reading in the UK, and a PhD in Economics from the University of Hull in the UK.
Participation
2021
His Excellency Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mashreq. Previously, H.E. was the CEO of Mashreq for nearly 30 years and under his leadership, Mashreq has grown from a small local bank to a leading customer centric financial institution in the region known for its innovative products and services. Furthermore, H.E. is also a member of the Board of Directors of Abdullah Al Ghurair Group of Companies, one of the biggest and most successful business groups in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East, with operations spanning more than 20 countries and business roots stretching back half a century.
Participation
2021
President and Founder of the Emirates Policy Center, which is one of the most important think tanks in the Arab World. Dr. Al Ketbi is a Professor of Political Science at the United Arab Emirates University. In recognition of her role and the great respect she enjoys as part of the distinguished elite in the UAE and the Gulf region, Dr. Al Ketbi was appointed in 2015 as member of the Consultative Commission of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). She was also chosen in 2018 in the list of 50 Most Influential Women in the Arab World. In 2019, Dr. Al Ketbi received the Women Super Achiever Award during the World Women Leadership Congress. In 2021, she was chosen as an advisor in the Global Commission for Post-Pandemic Policy.
Participation
2021
Minister of Climate Change and Environment of the UAE. In this capacity, she leads the Ministry’s mission of spearheading the UAE’s drive to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, protect the country’s ecosystems, and enhance its food and water security through developing and implementing effective measures, policies, and initiatives. Prior to her current role, Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri was appointed as Minister of State for Food and Water Security. Her responsibilities included monitoring national food stocks and water supply, channeling investments in food and water technology innovation, and building international partnerships in this area. Previously, Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri held the post of Minister of State for Food Security, where she oversaw the development of the necessary infrastructure to achieve the country’s food security objectives in line with the UAE Centennial 2071.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak is Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Mubadala. Through organic growth, acquisition and merger, Mubadala has become a $282 billion business with assets in more than 50 countries across six international offices. In addition to his commercial responsibilities, Khaldoon holds a number of UAE Government and Abu Dhabi Government responsibilities, including: a Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council since 2006; a Founding Member of Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs; the Presidential Special Envoy to China since 2018; and the Founding Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority.
Participation
2021 2022
His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan has occupied the position of Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence since October 2017. H.E. Sheikh Nahayan joined the Federal Government in 1990 and held a number of portfolios including Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Minister of Education, and Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development. H.E. Sheikh Nahayan was also the Chancellor of United Arab Emirates University from 1983 to 2013; Chancellor of Higher Colleges of Technology from 1988 to 2013; and President of Zayed University from 1998 to 2013.
Participation
2021
His Excellency Sheikh Shakhbut bin Nahyan Al Nahyan was appointed at the Federal Government as Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in February 2021. Previously, H.E. has served as UAE ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He played a vital role in fostering and developing mutual relations, enhancing bilateral cooperation in various fields, and realizing the common interests of people of the two brotherly countries. Before that, H.E. has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Participation
2021
Chairman of Hedayah. Leading international expert on Extremism and Education, he is a member of the UAE Federal National Council for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee at the Council.
Participation
2021
Her Excellency Hend Al Otaiba was named Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to France in July 2021. Previously, she led the UAE Foreign Ministry’s (MoFAIC) Strategic Communications Department, where she was responsible for representing the country’s foreign policies, serving as the principal point of contact for international media, and overseeing the communications efforts of the UAE’s diplomatic missions. Ambassador Al Otaiba joined MoFAIC in April 2017 as an advisor to the Foreign Minister. She was appointed to establish and head the Strategic Communications Department in 2019. Previously, she served as Director of Communications at Abu Dhabi Media, following a period managing cultural programs at the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, during which she worked on the Louvre Abu Dhabi. She received her Master’s degrees from the Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi and the UAE National Defense College.
Participation
2021
Minister of State to the United Arab Emirates Cabinet since September 2018. With three decades of international experience and business leadership, H.E. supports the government actively in initiatives and efforts that drive the nation’s economic diversification plans and the sustainable future of the UAE. H.E. holds a number of positions including: Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Board Member of Abu Dhabi Development Fund, Board Member of Etihad Aviation Group, Deputy Chairman of Emirates Nature – WWF and serves as the co-Chair of the UAE-UK Business Council.
Participation
2021 2022
Director of the Department of International Security Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, United Arab Emirates. He started his diplomatic career as UAE Defense Attaché to France and a Liaison officer to NATO, before being assigned as the Commander of the Signals Corps and then the Director of Training in the Armed Forces GHQ, and finally as the Executive Director for Policy and Cooperation in the Ministry of Defense before retiring in the rank of a Major General and joining the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the beginning of 2017.
Participation
2021
Editor in Chief of The National newspaper, a daily English language regional newspaper based in Abu Dhabi. An Iraqi-British journalist, Mina has over 18 years of experience covering Middle Eastern, European and American affairs. She has conducted multiple high profile interviews including with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa AlKadhimi, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Previously, she was a Senior Fellow at the Institute for State Effectiveness (ISE) and a Yale World Fellow.
Participation
2021 2022
Associate investor within the industrial ventures fund of Bpifrance, the French public investment bank. Prior to this, Jean worked in the merger & acquisition team of BNP Paribas based in Singapore and in the life sciences division of software editor Dassault Systèmes in France. A French civil servant, Jean graduated from École Normale Supérieure in Mathematics and is a Corps des Mines engineer.
Participation
2019 2021 2022 2023
His Excellency Khalifa Shaheen Almarar was appointed Minister of State of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the United Arab Emirates in February 2021, after serving as Assistant Minister for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Director of the Department of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi. Previously, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Arab Emirates to the Republic of Turkey, to the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the Syrian Arab Republic, and as a Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia.
Participation
2021 2022
Professor Emeritus at Sorbonne Université and a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He began his academic career as a mathematician, specializing in logic and teaching at Paris 7 and other universities, He then was appointed as professor of philosophy of science at the universities of Lille, Nanterre and finally Paris IV. He is chiefly interested in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, and in their impacts on education, collective decision and public policy. He was the founder and first director of the department of cognitive studies at the Ecole normale superieure in Paris. His latest books are La Silhouette de l’humain, quelle place pour le naturalisme aujourd’hui ?, La Cognition, du neurone à la société (co-authored) and Intelligence artificielle, intelligence humaine: la double énigme.
Participation
2020 2021 2022 2023
Author and journalist, specialising in geopolitics as a contributing editor to The Economist and Project Syndicate. A graduate in Arabic from Cambridge University and in education from London University, he taught at the University of Libya and then at the American University of Beirut before embracing journalism in time for the Lebanese civil war. His subsequent career with The Economist included positions in London as industry editor and Asia editor, along with foreign postings that ranged from Hong Kong and Singapore to Brussels, Paris, Los Angeles and Washington DC. More recently he has worked with the UN Environment Programme, with the Rockefeller Foundation on fragile states and with BBVA’s OpenMind on world conflicts. In July 2021 he became head tutor for The Economist’s first online course on global trends in geopolitics, with a particular focus on China and the USA.
Participation
2011 2016 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Deputy Vice President Foreign Institutional Relations, TotalEnergies. Karen Andries joined the Public Affairs Department of TotalEnergies in September 2019. From 2015 to 2019 she was Deputy Director of Business Development in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa within Refining & Petrochemicals at TotalEnergies. Karen Andries joined the Marketing & Services department of PetroFina in 1997 in Brussels. She subsequently held several positions in the Gas, Renewables & Power and Exploration & Production divisions of TotalEnergies and in various countries such as Angola and Indonesia. Karen Andries graduated from the Catholic University of Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and holds a Master’s degree in Management Engineering.
Participation
2021
Director of the Ifri Sub-Saharan Africa Center. He works on Mauritania and security issues in the Sahel. He teaches at the Institut d’études politiques (IEP) of Lille and Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University. He holds a PhD in political geography from the University of Rouen.
Participation
2008 2012 2014 2016 2018 2021 2022
Chairman of France Brevets, Scientific Advisor of the Center for Energy and Climate of Ifri, former President of the French Energy Council. He is a member of the French Academy of Engineering. He has been General Delegate of the French Academy of Engineering. Previously, he was Chairman and CEO of IFP Energies Nouvelles (2003-2015). Prior to that, in 1999 he was appointed Director of the International Energy Agency’s Long-Term Cooperation and Policy Analysis Directorate. From 1989 to 1994, he headed the oil and gas department of the French Industry Ministry. He worked as Executive Vice-President of the IFP in charge of research and development activities (1994-1998). He graduated from the École Polytechnique and the École des mines.
Participation
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Internationally renowned TV presenter, talk show host, conference moderator, emcee and journalist. His international career in broadcast journalism spans more than two decades and three continents. Throughout his career, Aslan has hosted numerous international TV talk shows with a global audience, often reaching over 100 countries and more than 100 million viewers weekly worldwide. Aslan is also one of the world’s most sought-after moderators and Masters of Ceremonies of high-level international conferences & summits, including for the UN, the EU, the G20, the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD. Aslan has interviewed and shared the stage with numerous presidents, prime ministers, CEOs, Nobel Prize winners and leading personalities from all over the world, including US President Bill Clinton, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellors Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to name a few. Aslan earned two masters degrees in International Relations and Journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in International Politics from Georgetown University.
Participation
2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Chief Operations Officer, Norge Mining. Dr. Kristian Bader has extensive experience as Operations Adviser, most of which he gained as line manager and project manager in companies in the financial and technological industries. Kristian has furthermore founded and built up various companies. His strengths lie in the analysis, conception and implementation of organizational structures and processes and in the strategic development of these. He is also passionate about developments in the fields of technology, digitization and automation. Kristian has a Doctorate in Business Administration and holds Executive Master’s degrees in Business Law and Art Market Studies.
Participation
2021
Managing Partner and Founder, Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital. Former Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank Group. He co-chairs the advisory board of Project Syndicate and the board of CGDev and IDDRI. Previously, he served as the Group Chief Financial Officer at Société Générale, and before that as the Group Chief Financial Officer of Crédit Agricole (2007-2011). He was Managing Director of Lazard in Paris responsible for the Financial Institutions Group (2004-2007). In 2003, he was invited to join President Chirac’s diplomatic team and was closely involved in the preparation of the G8 summit in Evian. He graduated from the Ecole nationale d’administration (ENA), the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, Sorbonne Paris IV University and from HEC.
Participation
2015 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Chairman and CEO of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French Space Agency. Previously, he was advisor to the Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, and chief of staff to Frédérique Vidal, the Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation. A scientist from the digital sphere, Philippe Baptiste is a specialist in algorithms, combinatorial optimization, operational research and artificial intelligence. He has helped to found and develop several start-ups and pursued numerous collaborations with digital, aviation and defence manufacturers. He was a Partner and Director with Boston Consulting Group and Chief Technology Officer of Total. Before that, he was a researcher at the French national scientific research centre CNRS and IBM’s Watson Research Center, and a lecturer at Ecole Polytechnique. He headed its information technology laboratory and created the Institute of Information Sciences and Interactions before being appointed Associate Director General of CNRS. He also previously sat on the board of INRIA, the French national institute for research in computer science and control. He holds a PhD from the University of Technology of Compiègne (UTC) and is a graduate in civil engineering from the Ecole des Mines engineering school in Nancy. He also holds an MSc from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and a DEA postgraduate diploma from Sorbonne University.
Participation
2021
President of the Global Commerce Institute of Lee&Ko, a leading global law firm in Korea, President of Seoul Forum for International Affairs (SFIA), Professor Emeritus (former professor and Dean) of the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS) at Seoul National University and Chairman of the Korean Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Co-Chair of Korea-Canada Forum. Professor Bark served as Non-Resident Senior Visiting Scholar at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of the Harvard Kennedy School. He has participated in the Task Force on Global Capitalism in Transition of the Trilateral Commission as an Asia-Pacific member. He served as Minister for Trade of the Korean government (from December 2011 until March 2013). In spring 2013, Dr. Bark was in the race for the Director-General position of the WTO as the Korean candidate. He also served as Chairman of the International Trade Commission of the Korean Government. He taught at Sciences Po, Stanford University and the University of Washington as a visiting professor. In addition, he was a visiting scholar at the IMF and consulted for the World Bank and the ADB.
Participation
2014 2015 2016 2017 2019 2021 2022 2023
Chairman and Founder of FDB Partners SPRL, an investment and advisory firm in TMT and publishing. In 2011, he was appointed Chairman of IDATE DigiWorld, the leading European think tank and consultancy organisation dedicated to Internet, Telecommunications and Media. He has had unique and diversified entrepreneurial and corporate experiences in the technology sector. He started his career as a researcher in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence with IBM Corporation. He served as President and CEO of Lucent EMEA and then as International CEO and corporate officer. He was also CEO of BT Global Services and a BT Group PLC board member. He sits in various boards and he is a frequent speaker in worldwide conferences on digital technologies.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch since 1991. His personal experience and theological formation gives him a unique perspective within ecumenical and inter-religious relations and environmental issues. Therefore, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I plays a vital role in the reconciliation within Christendom. Ordained to the Diaconate in 1961 and to the Priesthood in 1969, he served as assistant Dean at the Patriarchal Theological School of Halki and then as Director of the Private Patriarchal Office of Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios (d. 1991). He studied at the Patriarchal Theological School of Halki, the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Gregorian University) in Rome, the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey (Switzerland) and at the University of Munich.
Participation
2011 2012 2013 2017 2021 2022 2023
CEO of the African Union Development Agency/NEPAD, she is the first woman to hold the position. She was previously Resident Coordinator for the United Nations (UN) in South Africa and the Senior Director of the Office of the Secretary-General. She also served as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Benin. Her interest includes promotion of human development; anchored on the principles of economic, social and political rights for all. She has excelled as a Private Sector Policy Adviser focusing on the promotion of trade and investment in African countries through private/public sector partnerships in the United States. She holds a Master’s Degree in Economic Development, Monetary Economics and Econometrics from New York University (NYU). She is the author of several papers and monographs, and she is fully bilingual in French and English.
Participation
2019 2021
Head of Middle East and Africa of BNP Paribas Middle East & Africa for Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB). He has worked for BNP Paribas for 32 years in a number of global roles, including leadership positions in Paris, New York & London. Prior to taking the position as Head of BNP Paribas Middle East & Africa, Amine was Senior Advisor to Global Markets. His previous roles also include Global Head of Sustainable Finance in Global Markets and Global Head of Research and Sustainable Investments within Corporate Institutional Banking. Amine also served as Global Head of Commodity Derivatives, and Head of Equity & Derivatives for the Americas. After studying at the Ecole Polytechnique in France, Amine joined BNP Paribas in 1987. He started his career as a precious metals options trader in 1990 in Paris and then New York, where he later headed up energy options trading (oil and natural gas). In 2005 Amine was named by Financial News among the 20 most influential Europeans in America. He is fluent in French, Arabic and English.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Vice President, Cities & Public Services, Dassault Systèmes. He started his career as a research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), focusing on European security and transatlantic relations. He has worked for EADS-AIRBUS as senior manager in charge of international development. In 2005, he was appointed diplomatic advisor to the French Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, D. Perben. From 2007 to 2015 he worked for Alstom group, in the energy and rail transportation sector, in various capacities. In 2016, he joined the regional council of Paris Region as deputy director general and special advisor to the President, in charge of European affairs, international cooperation and tourism, until September 2019.
Participation
2018 2021
Co-founder of echOpen, a low-cost handheld ultrasound device connected to smartphones, he is a Public Health practitioner at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, former assistant professor in Clinical Epidemiology and PhD in Mathematics. He is mainly involved in the interfaces between connected medicine and open technologies: ultrasound imaging, methodology for the development of Artificial Intelligence solutions. He was a pioneer in Blockchain applications for the quality of clinical trials.
Participation
2021
Managing Partner, Bingmann Pflüger International. Dr Holger Bingmann was born on 8 July 1961 in Stuttgart (Germany). For many years he has held leading positions in industry and associations. Since May 2020 Holger Bingmann is managing partner of Bingmann Pflüger International. He is also President of the German Chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce (Paris), member of the Board of Directors of KfW (Frankfurt/Berlin), and member of the Executive Committee of, among others, the German Federal Association of Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA), the German Employers’ Association (BDA), and the German eCommerce Association. Holger Bingmann is shareholder of Pressevertrieb München Holding, advisory board member of several press wholesalers and founder and owner of the Digital Business University, Berlin. He is also member of the Advisory Board of, among others, Commerzbank (Frankfurt), the Austrian Logistics Association (WKÖ) and other national and international associations. Bingmann is partner of GLB German Latin Business GmbH and iconomy GmbH (Berlin).
Participation
2021
Board-member and advisor to companies in the field of digital transformation and artificial intelligence. Jacques N. Biot has international professional experience in higher education and research (First executive President of Ecole polytechnique, 2013-2018), life sciences (Roussel-Uclaf, Pasteur-Mérieux Serums and Vaccines, now parts of Sanofi; JNBD, strategic consulting firm in health technology, divested to ICON; and Guerbet, GBT, Euronext), industry and technology financing, and public administration (Prime Minister’s office). The motto of his career has been about how to turn scientific innovation into societal and economic value. He currently serves as a Trustee to several scientific academic institutions. He currently chairs the Board of Directors of HuaweiTechnologies France. Jacques is a graduate of Ecole polytechnique (X71) and a member of the Corps des Mines. He is an Officer of the Legion of Honor and of the French Orders of Merite, a member of the Lion’s Order of Senegal and a Commander in the Order of National Education in the Ivory Coast.
Participation
2020 2021 2022 2023
CNN’s senior European correspondent in Paris since 1996. Previously he was an ABC Paris correspondent from 1990 to 1996 and the NBC Paris and Rome correspondents from 1978 to 1990. In his long tenure in France he has covered every Presidential campaign since 1981, and traveled widely throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa on major news stories. He covered Pope John Paul II for more than 25 years, has reported on famines in Sudan, the Iranian and Philippines Revolutions, the Gulf War, civil wars in Lebanon and Somalia, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2009, Bittermann was named a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. His many journalistic honors include television Emmys and a Royal Television Society award for team coverage of the Paris terrorist attacks. He is on the juries for the Overseas Press Club and Emmy television news awards. He is a member of the board of governors of the American Hospital of Paris and is the co-president and co-founder of the European-American Press Club. Since 1998, Bittermann has taught communications at the American University of Paris where he is now a professor emeritus.
Participation
2019 2021 2022
Josep Borrell Fontelles is the High Representative of the European Union and Vice-President of the European Commission. He was a Minister of Public Works and Environment from 1991 to 1996, member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009 and its President from 2004 to 2007. Borrell became President of the European University Institute in 2010 and Jean Monnet Chair at the Institute of International Studies at Complutense University of Madrid. In 2018, he was appointed as Foreign Minister for the Spanish government and in 2019 High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Participation
2018 2021
President of the Global Virus Network, professor of medicine at USF. Christian Brechot, MD, PhD joined the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as Senior Associate Dean for Research in Global Affairs, Associate VP for International Partnerships and Innovation, Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, and heads USF’s Initiative on Microbiomes. He is also President of the Global Virus Network. In addition to his past role as President of the Institut Pasteur, he has held senior positions at Institut-Meriux, Inserm (the French NIH) as well as Paris Descartes University. Dr. Bréchot’s research activities have focused on viral hepatitis, microbiomes, and viral infections.
Participation
2009 2013 2014 2015 2016 2021 2022
Senior Advisor to the Chairman & CEO, Total Energies. Arnaud Breuillac, 63, graduated from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in 1981. He joined TotalEnergies in 1982 and has served in various positions in its Exploration & Production Division, including Abu Dhabi, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Angola as well as the Refining Division in France. From 2004 to 2006, he held the position of Vice President, Middle East – Iran. In December 2006, he was appointed to the Management Committee of the Exploration & Production Division, concurrent with a new role as Senior Vice-President, Continental Europe & Central Asia. In July 2010, he was appointed President, Exploration & Production, Middle East and in January 2011, became a member of the Group’s Management Committee. In 2014, Arnaud Breuillac became Member of Total Executive Committee and President, Exploration & Production, responsible for the Company’s very large and increasingly diverse upstream portfolio around the world. Since September 1st, 2021, Arnaud Breuillac has been nominated Senior Advisor to the Chairman & CEO of TotalEnergies SE.
Participation
2021
Dean of Academic Affairs at Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. Before assuming his current role, he has worked as an associate lecturer of international law for diplomats at the Academy. He previously served as Head of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Management at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi.
Participation
2021
Central and Commercial Banker, former First Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon. High-level senior finance professional with profound expertise in public and private sectors in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). International strategist in central banking, regulation and supervision, and financial markets, including direct operational experience in commercial banking. Board member of international and regional monetary and financial organizations. Social and economic reformist focusing on economic inclusion, poverty alleviation, women and community empowerment. Writer and speaker on strategy, leadership, monetary policy, finance, economics, and organizational and personal development.
His intellectual contribution is featured on his website.
Participation
2012 2016 2017 2021 2022 2023
Partner in the Sovereign Advisory department of Rothschild & Co. He advises a number of governments, sovereign wealth funds and state-owned companies on economic development, financial policy and debt management, across Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Central and Latin America. He is an active member of various think tanks and research initiatives related to economic and social inequality, and progressive reforms. He graduated from Harvard University, Sciences Po Paris, ESCP and holds Law and Economics degrees from Paris University.
Participation
2019 2021 2022
Ambassador of France to the United Arab Emirates. He was posted to the French Permanent Representation to the United Nations as a negotiator on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. He served as Political Advisor at the French Embassy in London and as Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister for the Armed Forces.
Participation
2021
Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, and a member of the BIS’s Executive Committee. Previously, he was a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, responsible for market operations and European and international relations. Prior to joining the ECB, Mr. Cœuré served in various positions at the French Treasury. He was Deputy Chief Executive, then Chief Executive of the French Debt Management office; Assistant Secretary for Multilateral Affairs, Trade and Development, co-chair of the Paris Club, and G8 and G20 Finance Sous-Sherpa; then Deputy Director General and Chief Economist of the French Treasury. A graduate of the École Polytechnique in Paris, he holds an advanced degree in Statistics and Economic Policy from the École nationale de la statistique et de l’administration économique (ENSAE), and a bachelor’s degree in Japanese.
Participation
2012 2013 2021
CEO & Chairman of the Board, Grup Servicii Petroliere, top offshore construction and drilling holding in the Black Sea. Mr. Comanescu established Grup Servicii Petroliere in 2004 and has served as President of the Board ever since. Under this leadership, the company has developed into a complex holding, which provides an integrated system of services, covering all major aspects of a project, from engineering, through planning, procurement, fabrication, installation and decommissioning. GSP owns and operates the biggest roster of specialized assets in the region, from AHTS and PSV vessels, to offshore floating cranes, offshore construction barges, ROVs and offshore drilling rigs, suited for both shallow and deep water. GSP’s footprint became global. GSP Holding successfully completed various offshore construction and drilling EPCI projects throughout the world, worth more than 4 billion dollars. Presently, GSP is developing major EPCI projects in the Black Sea, and is developing its capabilities to engage in deep water drilling, onshore drilling, and onshore construction.
Mr. Comanescu has a degree in Naval Electromechanical Engineering from the “Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy, Constanta, Romania. Shortly after graduating, in 1992, Mr. Comănescu set out to become one of the most successful business men in the industrial sector. Throughout his career he received various awards and acknowledgements, maintaining a constant presence in the Wealthiest Romanians list.
Participation
2019 2021
Basile Cotte is a high-ranking French official currently employed at the European Commission, within the DG COMP, with a particular focus on monitoring mergers and acquisitions within the basic industries, including the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. He is a graduate engineer from the “Applied Mathematics” program at the École Polytechnique, holding a master’s degree in Economic Policy Analysis from the Paris School of Economics. He also completed the Corps des Mines training program, which he joined in 2020. During his education, he had the opportunity to work for Morgan Stanley in London before joining Neoen in Paris, an independent renewable energy developer. His career has also been enriched by significant regulatory experience, as he had the opportunity to work for Euronext, the largest stock exchange in Europe, as well as for the DGCCRF (General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and the Prevention of Fraud) in the field of digital and telecommunications regulation.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to Saudi Arabia. He previously served as Director of the Asia-Pacific Region at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire.
Participation
2021
Vice President at JOKR, a rapid grocery delivery startup primarily operating in the US, Latin America and Europe. Previously he worked as a Vice President at SoftBank Group International. Benedict has experience in the mobility sector, the last-mile delivery sector, and the not-for-profit sector in various senior management roles across various successful startups. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from King’s College London.
Participation
2016 2017 2018 2021
Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation since 2010, and co-Secretary-General of the Africa-Europe Foundation since 2020. She is a member of International Crisis Group (ICG), of the European Council of Foreign Affairs (ECFR), of the comité éditorial of the Revue Commentaire, and of the Conseil scientifique of IHEDN. She served as Inspecteur général des finances at the French Ministry of Economy and Finances between 2007 and 2010, after having been Africa advisor to the French Ministers of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2007, and advisor to the French Ministers of Development between 1995 and 1997, and between 2002 and 2004. She began her career at the French Sénat, where she served at the Finances and Budget Commission from 1984 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2002, auditing a number of public expenditures, notably in the defense, foreign affairs, development, environment, research, education, telecoms and media sectors.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2016 2018 2021
Honorary lecturer at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, expert-consultant to international organisations and member of the strategic council of IFRI. Through her research, relationships in the field and various positions held in the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), she has become a specialist in democratisation, crisis and conflict resolution, transition and peace-building processes, especially in Africa. In the OIF, her positions have included chief of staff, delegate for peace, democracy and human rights and special advisor for political and diplomatic affairs to the Secretary-General from 1988 to 2010. She holds a Ph.D. in political science and is a member of the Académie des Sciences d’Outre Mer, and a member of Ifri’s Strategic Advisory Board, founder member of the journal “Nouvelle Afrique Contemporaine”, and an Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Participation
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Lawyer at the Paris Bar and currently practicing at the Bar of Benin, President of the African Association of International Law. He is also a member of the Curatorium of the African Academy for Regional Cooperation and a member of the honorary committee of the Fondation René Cassin (France). Former Chairman of the Bar, Robert DOSSOU was a member of Parliament, Minister of Planning and then Minister for Foreign Affairs. Former President of the Constitutional Court of Bénin, expert consultant, he has carried out and still carries out various missions for various international organizations: UN, AU, ECOWAS, OIF… etc. He is an arbitrator of international trade. President of the National Preparatory Committee of the National Conference of Benin, he is the author of several publications on democracy, human rights and the democratic transition. A former professor at the University of Paris I and then at the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC BENIN), and honorary dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the UAC, he is also associate member of the French Académie des Sciences d’Outre-Mer, Grand Officer of the National Order of Benin and Commander of the Academic Palms (France).
Participation
2019 2021 2022 2023
Ambassador of the Republic of Albania to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Mr. Dredha joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2001. During his career, he has carried out different positions in MOFA. From 2010 until 2013 he served as State Protocol Director to Albanian MOFA, and from 2013 to 2016 as Consul General of the Republic of Albania to Bari, Italy. From 2016 up to today is serving as Albanian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. He holds a MA in International Relations from Tirana University.
Participation
2021
President of ETI FINANCE (SMEs and Midcaps financing), GAGEO (Asset based lending) and IFIMM (Real estate). Former chairman of the Board for the Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc and of Société Française du Tunnel Routier du Fréjus, former Vice President of the French Public Investment Bank (BPI). Former CEO of OSEO (the French Agency for Innovation and SMEs financing). Former Engineer at the Directorate of Navigation of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region, Managing Director of the Caisse de Dépôts (French public financial institution) for the Normandie Region and later on for the Bourgogne region, Chairman of the Board for the Caisses d’Epargne (French savings banks) in the Midi-Pyrenees and for the Crédit Foncier de France (National mortgage bank of France). He holds a degree from the Ecole Polytechnique and from the ENPC (corps des Ponts).
Participation
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Former Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry of Albania (2013-2015). He joined the international private sector in 2015. He has served as External Advisor on Investments to the Prime Minister of Albania since 2016. Previously, he was Director of the European Integration and International Projects at the Ministry of the Economy, Trade, and Energy of Albania (2009-2013). He was also Director of Project Management Unit for the TAP Trans Adriatic Pipeline. He has founded and been involved in several Albanian and international non-governmental organizations such as the Albanian Free Forum, IDEA Institute. He graduated from the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, Cyprus. He pursued postgraduate studies at King’s College London.
Participation
2017 2019 2021 2022 2023
Senior Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP’s international practice. His work at Covington focuses on resolving international trade problems and business disputes with the US and foreign governments, and international business transactions and regulations on behalf of US companies and others around the world. He has held key senior positions, including Chief White House Domestic Policy Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, US Ambassador to the European Union, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration. He has played a major role in providing justice to Holocaust Survivors in the Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations. His articles appear in The New York Times, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs magazine. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and from Harvard Law School. He has received eight honorary doctorate degrees, and high civilian awards from the governments of France (Legion of Honor), Germany, Belgium, Israel, The United States, and Austria. He has written four books and his newest book The Art of Diplomacy, will be published in the Spring 2024.
Participation
2010 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
President of BOAD, the development finance institution of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) member countries. Prior to joining, this well-known expert with over twenty years of international experience in global finance, structured finance and capital markets, worked as Natixis’ Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) Country Manager for the UK in London as well as Head of Global Markets for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Head of Natixis’ Africa and Russia Departments. Between 2010 and 2016, he managed Natixis’ Global Markets for the Asia-Pacific region before taking over as Chief Executive Officer of the bank based in Hong Kong. He holds an Executive MBA from HEC Paris, a post-graduate degree in Banking and Finance from Paris V University and a degree from the Institut d’études politiques of Bordeaux.
Participation
2021 2022
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia and Engineer. He has held various positions in the Saudi government, including Minister of Agriculture, as well as Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the Netherlands and Turkey.
Participation
2021
Co-Founder and CEO of Royal Technologies Ltd., a Dubai-based insurtech company that intends to redefine the insurance industry in the Middle East. He is also the Representative of MEDEF International in the United Arab Emirates, the French business federation. Previously, he was the Managing Director for the Middle East of French insurance company Siaci Saint-Honoré. He also held various positions both in the private sector and the public administration: Managing Director of the Centre français des affaires de Téhéran, a business intelligence boutique advising French corporations on issues related to Iran, Head of Middle East at MEDEF and Economic Attaché at the French Embassy in Equatorial Guinea. Beginning on January 1, 2023, he will become a civil servant student at the Institut national du service public (INSP). He graduated from Sciences Po Bordeaux and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Participation
2021 2022
Director of the Center for Energy & Climate of Ifri since 2017. Prior to joining Ifri, he spent six years at the International Energy Agency (IEA), notably as Russia & Sub-Saharan Africa Programme Manager where he conducted oil and gas market analyses and was responsible for institutional relations with these countries and regions. He also held various other positions, such as at the Robert Schuman Foundation, where he was in charge of a Ukraine observatory. A French and German national, he holds a Ph.D. from Sciences Po Paris in International Relations. He represents Ifri at the French observatory of raw materials for industrial value chains (Ofremi).
Participation
2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Dean Emeritus at The American University in Cairo. He founded the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in 2009 but he is also a career Diplomat. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt from July 2013 to June 2014. During his distinguished diplomatic career over three decades, he served as Ambassador to the United States between 1999 and 2008 and Japan between 1997 and 1999, as well as in numerous government and international positions. His work focused on international and regional security, disarmament and non-proliferation, conflict resolution and Arab-Israeli diplomacy. He was also the Chairman of the United Nations Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, and the Vice Chairman of the United Nations General Assembly’s first committee dealing with disarmament and international security. Currently Chairman of LYNX Strategic Advisors which supports international and domestic firms in pursuing best business practices, he also publishes weekly articles on Global, International and Middle East Affairs.
Participation
2021 2023
President of the Institute for Pan-African Strategies, Peace-Security-Governance (IPS). He has been a member of the National Assembly of Senegal since 2017 and became Vice President in October 2019 until 2022. He was the Special Envoy of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2017 and Special Representative of the OIC Secretary General for Africa from 2016 to 2017. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of the African Union and Senegalese Abroad from 2000 to 2002, before serving as Senior Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Senegal from 2002 to 2009. Former President of the “Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa”, he is currently the Special Envoy of the OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie). He holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) from Paris-Sorbonne V University and a Ph.D. in Communication and International Development from Ohio State University.
Participation
2016 2017 2019 2021 2022
Project Manager in the Operations Department of the ANSSI, the French national cybersecurity agency. Previously, he worked for the industrial companies General Electric, Alstom, TotalEnergies and Vesuvius, as well as for the Private Equity fund Astorg in Paris. As a Corps des mines Engineer, Godefroy Galas is a French high civil servant. He is also a graduate Engineer of Télécom Paris, a graduate of the Grande École programme of HEC Paris and holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs (Prép’ENA) from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University.
Participation
2021 2022
Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates. He joined the Federal Government in 2006 as Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, and was later appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. He was Chairman of the National Elections Committee, Chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Al Owais Cultural Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA). He received his Ph.D. from King’s College, Cambridge and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Political Science from George Washington University.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Member emeritus of the French Conseil d’État and senior lecturer at Sciences-Po Paris, Jean-Louis Gergorin is the owner of JLG Strategy, an aerospace and defense consultancy. He has held numerous executive positions such as Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Committee of Airbus, as well as Director of Policy Planning of the French Foreign Ministry. He is a former Trustee and member of the Council of the IISS. Co-founder and Steering Committee member of the French American Cybersecurity Conference, he is a co-author with Léo Isaac-Dognin of Cyber. La guerre permanente (2018). He graduated from the École polytechnique and École nationale d’administration, and is an alumnus of the Stanford Executive Program.
Participation
2019 2021
Senior Reporter and International Columnist at Le Figaro. He has covered major worldwide political crises and armed conflicts for the past 40 years. Expert on geopolitics, he publishes every Tuesday his international column in Le Figaro. He wrote several books on the Middle East and the major diplomatic issues of the West. He regularly takes part in international conferences. He is also a Professor at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and a member of the Editorial Board of the Revue des Deux Mondes. In 2014, he was awarded the Grand Prix de la presse internationale by the foreign correspondents in Paris. He graduated from the École normale supérieure and the École nationale d’administration.
Participation
2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Dr. Thomas Gomart (PhD in History at Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, and EMBA at HEC) is Director of Ifri. He was its President for Strategic Development from 2010 to 2015 and the Director of its Russia/NIS Centre from 2004 to 2013. As Lavoisier Fellow at the State Institute for International Relations (University-MGIMO – Moscow), Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies (European Union – Paris) and Marie Curie Fellow at the Department of War Studies (King’s College – London), he has acquired a diversified international experience. As Researcher, he is currently working on Russia, digital governance, country risk, and think tanks. He recently published Notre intérêt national. Quelle politique étrangère pour la France? (ed., with Thierry de Montbrial), Editions Odile Jacob, 2017; L’affolement du monde – 10 enjeux géopolitiques, Editions Tallandier, 2019 (Prix Louis Marin and Prix du Livre de Géopolitique); Guerres Invisibles. Nos prochains défis géopolitiques, Editions Tallandier, 2021. He is a member of the scientific committee of the Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence (IHEDN). He is also a member of the editorial board of the French journals Politique étrangère, Etudes, and Revue des deux mondes.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021
Vice Chairman of the American Hospital of Paris Foundation and Chairman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank based in Washington DC. He also serves on the Board of Atlas Network and is a member of the Leadership Council of United Way Worldwide. He joined the investment banking firm of Weild Capital LLC, after 5 years with the New York based Galileo Group. From 1998 to 2014, he held various positions with Citigroup, Country Corporate Officer for France, Global Relationship Bank Market Manager for France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and Director of Citibank International PLC. Member of the Board of United Way Worldwide between 2014 and 2020, he chaired its Development Committee from 2017 to 2020. He has a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Lyon, France, and a Master in Political Science from the same institution.
Participation
2009 2012 2013 2015 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Managing Director of Bordier & Cie in Geneva. Former Managing Partner of EFG Bank in Geneva, his area of expertise is private asset management. He is a member of the Board and Treasurer of the WPC Foundation. He previously worked as a money market dealer at the Al Saudi bank in Paris, then as Treasurer for Europe at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi in Paris. He received a degree in Economics from the University of Neuchâtel and an Advanced Management Degree from the École des cadres de Lausanne.
Participation
2009 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Founding President of Europartenaires and former President of the Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures. She was first appointed Administrator at the Ministry of Finance and later Secretary General of the Paris Club. In 1981, she served as Advisor to Jacques Delors, Minister of Finance, before becoming Chargé de mission to the President of the Republic from 1982 to 1990. Minister Delegate for European Affairs from 1990 to 1993, then member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1997, Elisabeth Guigou was Minister of Justice from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, she was appointed Minister of Employment and Solidarity. She was elected Deputy Seine-Saint-Denis between 2002 and 2017. Vice President of the French National Assembly from 2010 to 2011, she served as President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly from 2012 to 2017. She has written a number of publications over the years, including L’Europe. Les défis à venir de la première puissance mondiale (Le Cherche Midi, 2014) and Pour une Europe juste (Le Cherche Midi, 2011).
Participation
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Executive President of Exim Banca Romaneasca – a new commercial bank, ranking top 8 on the Romanian market, established after the merger of EximBank SA and Banca Romaneasca SA, at the end of 2022. Mr. Halalai acted as Executive President of EximBank SA since November 2012 and he successfully managed the first Romanian merger of a state-owned bank and a commercial-private one, establishing a significant benchmark for the local financial market. He also has extensive experience in top management positions in the Romanian banking sector, being part of the team that founded ING Securities in Romania in 1998. Along the years, Mr. Halalai proved vision and determination in establishing successful formats that supported the effective role of the banks in fostering the dialogue with local business community, promoting the national economy both in the country and abroad. Mr. Halalai holds a MBA degree from the Doctoral School of Finance and Banking (DOFIN) in Bucharest and completed a specialized fellow training at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Mr. Halalai also developed a teaching career as Associated Professor of Promotion tools and export programs under the Foreign Trade Master Program of the Faculty of International Economic Relations within the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.
Participation
2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Co-Founder of Alcuin Advisors LLC, lecturer at ESCP in the new master’s program in International Business & Diplomacy, former Chief Development Officer of the American Hospital of Paris, speaker and Consultant. Her varied career has spanned the public, private, and non-profit sectors in Europe and the Americas, with a particular emphasis on the policy, agriculture, and healthcare fields. She created and lectures in a course in nonprofits and civil society and lectures on innovation, entrepreneurship and the policies and conditions that help promote them. Both as a Consultant and as a Board member, she advises companies and international NGOs. She holds a BA in German studies and an MS in Management.
Participation
2015 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
EU official, Head of the Energy-Intensive Industries and Raw Materials Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. Previously, he was Head of Policy Coordination for Energy Union, 2030 Climate and Energy Package, Low Emission Mobility Strategy and the Circular Economy at the Secretariat General. Past EU Trade Negotiator (steel, WTO market access and industrial tariffs). Former UK government official, he coordinated UK preparations for the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Graduated in French and Politics from the University of Bristol. Studied at the École nationale d’administration (ENA).
Participation
2021 2022
Director of Research and Communications at Ifri and Editor-in-Chief of Politique étrangère. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and taught for many years a course on Terrorism at Sciences Po. He published several books including La Guerre de vingt ans (Robert Laffont, 2021 with Elie Tenenbaum), Intifada française ? (Ellipses, 2012) and War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age (Praeger, 2009 with Thomas Rid; translated in Chinese in 2011). His articles appeared in major journals (Policy Review, Internationale Politik, Commentaire, Études, etc.).
Participation
2008 2016 2019 2021 2022 2023
Professor of International Politics at Keio University, Tokyo. He is Director of Research at the Asia-Pacific Initiative, Tokyo. He is also Senior Researcher at the Nakasone Peace Institute, Senior Fellow at The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, and Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs. His research interests include postwar international history, British diplomatic history, Japanese foreign and security policy, and contemporary East Asian international politics. He was a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for Security from 2013 to 2014, and the Prime Minister’s Advisory Panel on National Security and Defense Capabilities in 2013. He was a Visiting Professor and Japan Chair at Sciences Po in Paris between 2009 and 2010, a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University between 2008 and 2009 and Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge between 2021 and 2022. Professor Hosoya studied International Politics at Rikkyo (BA), Birmingham (MIS), and Keio (Ph.D.).
Participation
2016 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Professor of Economic Policy at the Ecole nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC, France) and member of the French Cercle des Economistes. Between 2012 and 2022, he was President of the Global Development Network (GDN), a public international organization headquartered in New Delhi (India), which strengthens research capacity in developing countries in order to promote development policies informed by sound analysis and evidence. He is the former Chief Economist (2002-2012) and Executive Director of Strategy (2002-2010) of the French Development Agency (AFD) and a former Deputy Director of Ifri. He chaired ENPC’s Department of Economic and Social Sciences between 1994 and 2012. He is President of the Scientific Council of the FARM Foundation (Foundation for Agriculture and Rural Development in the World), member of the Scientific Committee of Crédit Agricole S.A., and Non-Resident Fellow of the Center for Global Development (CGD, Washington D.C.).
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Professor of International Relations at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris and Research Fellow at the Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherches en sciences de l’action, Sabine Jansen is Vice President of the Committee for Parliamentary and Political History and Delegated President of the Society for the History of the 5th Republic. She founded and was the Editor of Histoire@Politique from 2007 to 2014 at Sciences Po Paris. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Questions internationales, Secretary General of Revue historique and member of the Editorial Board of Parlements, four peer-reviewed journals. She is currently working on think tanks, decision-making and expertise in the field of international relations, with special attention to the history and role of the think tanks in diplomatic affairs. She graduated and received her Ph.D. in Modern History from Sciences Po. She holds the Agrégation in History.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 2021
President of the Republic of Rwanda. In 2019, he was elected Chairperson of the East African Community, and has been leading the institutional reform of the African Union (AU) since 2016. He is currently Chairperson of the AU Development Agency New Partnership for Africa’s Development as well as African Union Leader for Domestic Health Financing. Beginning in 1990, as commander of the forces of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, he led the struggle to liberate Rwanda. The hallmarks of his administration are peace and reconciliation, women’s empowerment, promotion of investment and entrepreneurship, and access to information technology, a cause he also champions as Co-Chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
Participation
2019 2021
Karl Kaiser is Senior Associate of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Adjunct Professor Emeritus at Harvard Kennedy School, he taught at the Universities of Bonn, Johns Hopkins in Bologna, Saarbrücken, Cologne, the Hebrew University, and Harvard University. He was a Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Bonn and Berlin as well as an advisor to Chancellors Brandt and Schmidt. He holds a Ph.D. from Cologne University and an honorary doctorate of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was educated at the Universities of Cologne, Grenoble and Oxford.
Participation
2012 2013 2015 2019 2021
Founding Board member and Founding President of the Global Relations Forum. He serves as the Venture Partner at the UK-based D4 Ventures, focusing on e-commerce, fintech and deep learning/AI investments. He advises tech companies on complex issues related to their NASDAQ listings. Previously, he was the Founding Managing Director of Istanbul Technical University’s (ITU) ARI Science Park. During his tenure, he was Senior Advisor to the President, Coordinator of the law, technology, and policy graduate program, and Strategic Advisor at the university’s Center for Satellite Communications. He has served as a member of the academic staff at ITU and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Earlier in his career, he worked as a specialist in structured finance in London and Istanbul. He received a BS in electrical engineering and economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MSc in finance from LSE, and a JD from Columbia University. Mr. Karakullukçu recently co-authored a book on Turkish foreign policy, Değerler, Çıkarlar ve Dönüşüm, with former Turkish Undersecretaries of Foreign Affairs and Intelligence. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association.
Participation
2019 2021 2022 2023
Elias Kassis is President of Total E&P UAE and TotalEnergies Country Chair in the United Arab Emirates, a position he has held since May 2021. Previously, he held the position of Vice President Energy Transition in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) division of TotalEnergies Exploration & Production. Before that, he served as Vice President North Africa in the MENA division, and Managing Director of the TotalEnergies E&P affiliates in Yemen, Malaysia and Iraq. Prior to that, he was Vice President in the TotalEnergies E&P Middle East division, and Vice President Venezuela in TotalEnergies E&P Americas Division. He fulfilled other assignments in Venezuela and Qatar. He began his career within TotalEnergies in 1991 and has held various positions in the Trading and Gas & Power divisions until 2002. Mr. Kassis holds an Engineering Master’s Degree from the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble and a Master’s Degree in Finance from ESSEC Business School.
Participation
2021
Research Fellow and Director of Russia/NIS Center of Ifri since January 2014. Before joining Ifri in 2005, she taught International Relations for the French-Russian Master at MGIMO University (Moscow State Institute of International Relations). At the beginning of her work at Ifri, she developed a rich expertise on issues linked to youth, higher education and innovation in Russia: she is the author of the book Les universités russes sont-elles compétitives ?, CNRS Editions, 2013. She currently heads the trilingual electronic collection Russie.Nei.Visions. She holds a degree from the State University of Ekaterinbourg, a Franco-Russian Master in International Relations from the University of Sciences Po and MGIMO University, and from the University of Marne-la-Vallée in France. In 2020, she published La Russie de Poutine en 100 questions (Paris, Tallandier).
Participation
2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Special Advisor to the Regional Office of WHO for Europe, Professor Kazatchkine has over 35 years of experience in global health as a leading physician, researcher, administrator, advocate, policymaker, and diplomat. He is Emeritus Professor of Immunology at Paris Descartes University, Senior Fellow with the Global Health Centre of the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva, and a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. He has been Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Director of the French Agency for Research on AIDS, French ambassador on HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In 2021, he was a member of the Independent panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response convened by the World Health Assembly to evaluate the global response to Covid-19.
Participation
2020 2021 2022 2023
President of Servir, la communauté des alumni de l’ENA et de l’INSP (former ENA Alumni Association) since 2017 and former member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of France as a qualified person (2015-2021), Daniel Keller is Chief Officer in charge of transversal projects of the Division of complementary pension and social action at Malakoff-Humanis. Graduate of the École normale supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud, holder of an Agrégation in Literature and former student of the École nationale d’administration (ENA), he began his career at the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance as a Civil Administrator in the General Tax Directorate and then in the Tax Legislation Department. He joined the Renault Group where he held various responsibilities in the sales department, in the distribution network, in France and in Europe, as well as in central functions, as Head of Worldwide Sales Quality for the Group. He then managed a group of Renault-Dacia car dealerships in the Paris region. President of the Grand Orient de France from 2013 to 2016, he was then Director of Transformation at Humanis, in charge of organization, project management and operational efficiency.
Participation
2018 2021 2022
Dr. Kim is Chief Executive Officer of the MiCo BioMed Co., Ltd., an innovative LabChip-technology based diagnostic company in Korea that generates various biochemical, immunological and molecular diagnostic products including COVID-19 detection kits and systems. He founded NanoBioSys Inc. in 2009 and invented a portable molecular diagnostic system to detect multiple infectious disease pathogens rapidly using an inexpensive disposable plastic microfluidic Lab-on-a-Chip (LabChip). He has been working with international organizations such as the UN, WHO and Institute of Pasteur. He currently leads his colleagues to develop a more efficient portable easy-to-use tele-diagnostic system for rapid detection, monitoring and controlling animal/food-borne diseases as well as human diseases on site. He and his colleagues are moving towards an innovative U-healthcare system to provide a healthier environment for the world. He received Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at Columbia University and worked for Harvard Medical School as a research faculty over 13 years.
Participation
2021
Mari Kiviniemi has been Managing Director of the Finnish Commerce Federation since 2019. She served as OECD Deputy Secretary General from 2014 to 2018. 41st Prime Minister of Finland from 2010 to 2011, she previously held various positions in the Finnish government, including Minister of Public Administration and Local Government, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development and Minister for European Affairs. She was a Member of Parliament from 1995 to 2014, chairing and participating in a vast number of committees. Deputy Party Leader of the Finnish Centre Party from 2003 to 2008, she was elected Leader of the Party in 2010. She sits on the board of directors of Blic Public affairs and the supervisory board of Messukeskus Helsinki. She has been a member of many other boards including the Helsinki City Council, the Finnish National Opera Foundation and Lännen Tehtaat Oyj. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Helsinki.
Participation
2014 2015 2016 2017 2021
Senator in the Polish Parliament since 2011. He is currently Chairman of the Foreign and European Union Affairs Committee in the Senate of the Republic of Poland. Between 2015 and 2019, he was Minority Leader of the Polish Senate. He served as Minister of Defence from 2007 to 2011 and was a member of the European Parliament. He managed the Information Department at State TV Centre in Cracow between 1990 and 1992. He then was Head of the International Centre for Development of Democracy in Krakow from 1993 to 1999 and Head of the Institute for Strategic Studies from 1999 to 2003. In 1998 and 1999, he was an Advisor to the government plenipotentiary for Poland’s accession negotiations with the EU. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Krakow Medical Academy and the Faculty of Philosophy and History at the Jagiellonian University. He is a Lecturer at the Institute of European Studies at the Jagiellonian University. Senator Klich has authored numerous publications on foreign policy and international security. In 2001, he founded the Institute for Strategic Studies think tank in Krakow. In the late 1970’s and 1980’s he was active in the democratic opposition movement.
Participation
2013 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Director of Research for the Gulf Research Center. He also leads the Tafahum Project on a Security Roadmap for West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office and is a member of the Bertelsmann Foundation Strategy Group on “The EU and Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia: Strategies for the EU Neighbourhood”. From 2018 to 2020, he was a Senior Advisor and Director of Research at the Bussola Institute in Brussels, Belgium. Prior, he served as Director of the Gulf Research Center Foundation, Research Program Leader on Gulf-Europe Relations at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai and as Head of Strategic Studies at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi. He is the Editor of eight books; author of Politische Entwicklung in einem arabischen Golfstaat: Die Rolle von Interessengruppen im Emirat Kuwait, coauthor of Establishing a Regional Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Gulf Region, as well as numerous chapter contributions and journal articles. Dr. Koch received his Ph.D. from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Participation
2016 2021
Co-Founder and President of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building (RCCP), a Lebanese NGO focused on Track II. She is a member of the working group at the Middle East at Hoover Institution, Stanford University. She is a member of the Steering Committee and an Advocacy Consultant for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) National Agenda for the Future of Syria (NAFS) programme. She specializes in US-Arab relations and has a special interest in Syria. She is Editor of The Syrian Crisis: Effects on Regional and International Relations (2020) and has previously authored The Arab Lobby: Factors for Success and Failure (2016). She is a weekly Columnist in the Saudi newspaper Arab News and makes regular appearances on a series of Middle Eastern TV stations. She has co-directed, participated and presented scholarly papers in numerous conferences and workshops. She is currently working on a book project that researches the effect of regional competition on conflicts in Syria, Yemen, the Horn of Africa and Libya. She holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Exeter as well as an MBA and a BBA from the AUB.
Participation
2017 2019 2021 2022 2023
Head of the regional economic service for Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in France and economic advisor for the Regional Prefect, Mr. Kotti’s primary focus lies in supporting companies’ economic development and carbon transition. Prior to this, he was a consultant for the World Bank on financial inclusion and banking sector stability matters in the Middle East. He also worked for Neoen in Australia, an independent renewable energy developer. Mr. Kotti holds a Ph.D. in economics from the École polytechnique. He is also a graduate of the Havard Kennedy School and the Corps des mines program in France.
Participation
2019 2021 2022 2023
Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is a political scientist, historian, columnist, expert on Eastern policy, Co-Founder of the Warsaw Rising Museum, lecturer at the University of Warsaw and Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Research Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kyiv. Member of the Lower House of the Polish Parliament – Sejm, where he serves as Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He served as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2007), and was a member of the National Security Council. From 2009 to 2014, he was a member of the European Parliament, working in the Foreign Affairs and Security and Defence Committees, and Chairman of the EU delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Committee. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the New Eastern Europe bi-monthly magazine and the Supervisory Board of Alwernia SA. He authored numerous publications on transformation processes in Central and Eastern Europe.
Participation
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Jean Kramarz is currently Director of the Healthcare activities of the AXA Partners Group. He is a specialist in the development of healthcare services in France and around the world. Before joining the AXA Group, where he launched medical teleconsultation for the general population in France, he was Director of New Services for the Malakoff-Médéric Group, Director of Development for Europ Assistance, Director of International Health Subsidiaries for the Gras Savoye Group. He also worked in the French public sector, including in the Oil & Gas and Automotive Departments of the Ministry of Industry and in the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance. Jean Kramarz is an alumnus of Sciences Po Paris and the Ecole nationale d’administration.
Participation
2020 2021
Medical Doctor and Psychiatrist, member of the Supervisory Board of Edeis as well as member of Surveillance Board of Edeis.com and active member of Bealy.io. He is specialized in the management of conflict situations, and in particular in the management of post-traumatic syndromes. He participates in work on sleep, biological rhythms, and physiological and psychological adaptation factors. He has been practicing in Paris for 37 years, with an involvement in corporate work. He has carried out numerous consulting missions including with Progress, Danone, Rians, Laboratoires Debat, Spie Batignolles, L’Oréal, EDF, Normédic, La Poste, and with the government of Senegal. He also collaborated with IMS Health and the General Management of Manpower.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
Personal Advisor to the High Representative and Vice President of the Commission EEAS. He has been a Professor at Sciences Po for over 20 years. He previously served as Special Advisor to Pascal Lamy, European Commissioner for Trade, and later as Strategic Advisor to the French Prime Minister from 2014 to 2017. Founder of the think tank Telos, he was Executive Director of the French think tank En Temps Réel. His fields of research are Europe as a global actor, trade and politics, and global politics. He is a prolific writer: he is the author of numerous books, academic papers, articles, comments in the press, etc. He was awarded the Légion d’honneur. He has a Ph.D. in International Relations from Sciences Po Paris.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Managing Director at BNP Paribas, Middle East and Africa. He is Senior Banking Executive with a 20-year experience in leading coverage, structured finance and product platforms within top-tier international and regional Corporate and Investment Banks.
Participation
2021 2022
Senior Advisor of KIM & CHANG and Visiting Professor of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. He joined the Korean Foreign Service in 1980. He became Minister-Counsellor of the Korean Permanent Delegation to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris in 2004. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Director General and Deputy Chief Negotiator for the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. Then, from 2008 to 2010, he was Deputy Minister for Trade and Chief Negotiator for the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement. Former Ambassador to the Philippines, he was Ambassador to France from 2012 to 2015. He held the position of G20 Sherpa as well as Ambassador for International Economic Affairs of the Republic of Korea from 2015 to 2017. Ambassador Lee graduated from Seoul National University and received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France.
Participation
2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Bernardino León Gross is the Director General of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. He is a veteran diplomat with a career spanning over 27 years. He has served as the UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya. Previously, he was the European Union SR to the Southern Mediterranean, Secretary General at Spanish prime minister Office and Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs. His career has focused on mediation and negotiations, covering also intercultural dialogue, security, energy and migration. He founded with Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim the Barenboim-Said Foundation. He has worked in different Human Rights initiatives, particularly in the Arab world. He played a key role in the EU “peace team” delegation that followed the Oslo process. Following the events of the Arab Spring, he mediated crucial talks in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. He holds a diploma in International Relations from the University of Barcelona and a degree in Law from the University of Malaga, Spain, and followed post graduate courses at London King’s College and Sorbonne University.
Participation
2018 2021
Civil servant within the French Corps des Mines, Eponine Loridant went to a binational French-German high school and studied at the French engineering school Ecole Polytechnique. As part of her education, she worked for a humanitarian organization in Ivory Coast and at the French embassy in Switzerland.
Participation
2021
Egyptian Senator and former member of Parliament. She is an Advisor to the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and is a Distinguished Lecturer in the Political Science Department at the American University in Cairo. She has been a member of the National Council for Human Rights since 2012 and an Advisor to the Minister of Labour and Immigration responsible for Egyptians abroad since 2011. She was a member of the World Bank’s Council of Advisors for the Middle East & North Africa Region. She was an Advisor to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in 2012 and served on the Committee for Policy Development (UN, 2001-2004). She was awarded a fellowship at MIT in 2016. She is a graduate of Harvard University. She is a prolific writer in English, French and Arabic. She is an Officier de la Légion d’honneur.
Participation
2009 2010 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Social entrepreneur working in the fields of International Relations and Development. His current projects include a film series, the goal of which is to find potential paths to a peaceful and sustainable world, for which as filmmaker he has documented his interactions with economists, activists, politicians, diplomats, academics, and spiritual leaders. The first film titled Birth of a Poet was an official selection at the Global Nonviolent Film Festival, 2019. Furthermore, he is writing a book for the same purpose. He has worked in the private sector in the fields of Real Estate, Information & Communication Technology, Finance, and Outsourcing. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, a Master in Creative Writing from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from R.V. College of Engineering, and is currently pursuing the part-time Master in Real Estate Development at IE University. He is fluent in English, Hindi, Spanish and Telugu.
Participation
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Former Minister, former member of the French Parliament, Mayor of Crest, Chairman of the Franco-British Council and of the Federation of French Overseas Companies (Fedom). Member of the steering comittee of the « Républicains » party, he was the whip of opposition in the finance committee, special rapporteur for the budget on ecology, energy, transport and agriculture, President of the Friendship Group with Russia and Vice-President with the United Kingdom as well as member of the Delegation for Overseas Territories. He has been Overseas Secretary in 2007. He is a Corps des mines General Engineer. He graduated from the École polytechnique and the Institut d’études politiques of Paris.
Participation
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Vice Chairman International of Rothschild & Cie. Before joining Rothschild in 1989 as General Partner, he was Managing Director of Lazard Frères & Cie from 1976 to 1988. Previously, from 1973 to 1976, he was Advisor to DATAR (Délégation à l’aménagement du territoire et à l’action régionale), an office of the French Prime Minister. He is a member of the Board of Ifri. He is a Commander of the Légion d’honneur. Graduate of the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, he holds a M.A. in Law and has attended the Ph.D. Management Program of Paris Dauphine University.
Participation
2011 2012 2013 2015 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Chairman of International Public Affairs at THOMSON BROADCAST. He has held various senior management positions across BNP Paribas international network, before retiring in 2022. His last position was CEO/Chairman of BNP Paribas Middle East and Africa for Corporate and Institutional Banking from 2015 to 2022. Between 2009 and 2015, he was CEO of BNP Paribas in India. Before joining BNP Paribas, he was Deputy CEO/Chief Risk Officer Asia-Pacific for Crédit Lyonnais, Calyon and Fortis Bank (1999-2009). Between 1995 and 1999, he was Country Manager of Crédit Lyonnais in Thailand and, between 1990 and 1995, Regional Manager of BFCE for South-East Asia based in Singapour. He has always been an active member of the Foreign Trade Advisors of France (CCEF, an official representative of the French business community overseas), he was Chairman of the Hong Kong Committee and is now President of the Bahrain Committee. He was Chairman of the French-Indian Chamber of Commerce and is now a member of the Advisory board of the French-Bahraini Chamber of Commerce. He graduated from ESSEC.
Participation
2018 2021 2022 2023
Thierry de Montbrial is Executive Chairman of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), which he founded in 1979. He is Professor Emeritus at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers. In 2008, he launched the World Policy Conference. He has been a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques of the Institut de France since 1992, and is a member of a number of foreign academies. He serves on the Board or Advisory Board of a number of international institutions. Thierry de Montbrial chaired the Department of Economics at the École polytechnique from 1974 to 1992. He was the first Chairman of the Foundation for Strategic Research (1993-2001). Entrusted with the creation of the Policy Planning Staff (Centre d’analyse et de prévision) at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was its first Director (1973-1979). He has authored more than twenty books, several of them translated in various languages, including Action and Reaction in the World System – The Dynamics of Economic and Political Power (UBC Press, Vancouver, Toronto, 2013) and Living in Troubled Times, A New Political Era (World Scientific, 2018). He is a Grand Officer of the Légion d’honneur, Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite. He has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun – Gold and Silver Star, Japan (2009), Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2016) and other state honors by the French and several foreign governments. Thierry de Montbrial is a graduate of the École polytechnique and the École des mines, and received a Ph.D. in Mathematical Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Participation
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Head of the risks department at the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Environment Directorate. His activities involve the control of industrial installations as well as the management of natural hazards. Before becoming a senior civil servant, he worked for the hedge fund Meridiam, the Guerbet pharmaceutical laboratory and the M13h marketing firm. He holds an engineering degree from the Corps des mines and a degree in mathematics from the École normale supérieure de Paris.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Founder, Chairman and CEO of WISeKey. Before founding his company in 1999, he served as United Nations Expert on cybersecurity during 17 years. He is recognized worldwide as an Internet pioneer and has a unique profile, which combines extensive high-level international diplomacy experience and emerging technologies expertise. He has received many international awards for his commitment to secure the Internet. He is very active in disruptive cryptotechnology, AI, blockchain, IoT and cybersecurity. He is also an expert in M&A, fundraising, IPOs, and listed companies. He is the coauthor of The transHuman Code bestseller book.
Participation
2019 2020 2021
CEO of the DigiWorld Institute, European think tank for digital innovation and the digital economy, since 2017. Jacques Moulin began his career at Thomson SA. He joined the France Telecom-Orange Group in 1991 and participated in the transformation of the Group’s B2B, B2C, and HR sectors, in France and abroad. He also held various managerial and operational positions: Director of Human Resources and Communications for the Ile-de-France Est Region, Director of Human Resources for Orange Business Services, Regional Director for Lorraine and Territorial Director for the East Region (Alsace-Lorraine, Bourgogne, Franche-Comté). He went on to manage Orange France’s 11 territorial divisions as well as Orange France’s Human Resources Department (+ 80,000 employees). From 2011 to 2017, he was Managing Director of Sofrecom, an Orange Group subsidiary specializing in consulting and engineering services for international operators. Jacques Moulin is a graduate of Sciences Politiques. He also has a background in law, a Master’s degree from the Institut d’études politiques (IEP) and completed ESSEC’s “Economics and Business School’s international development” program.
Participation
2019 2021 2022 2023
Secretary-General of the University Leadership Council of the UAE. She was one of the dozen pioneer faculty members present at the creation of the American University of Sharjah, where she was subsequently elected by her peers as President of the University Faculty Senate, served as the Chairperson of the Department of International Studies, and was named as the founding Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Affairs of the American University of Sharjah, serving as pillar of institutional advancement of the university and senior faculty in international law, until she assumed the Secretariat General of the ULC. She has held visiting professorships at leading universities and research institutions in the US and Europe, including the University of California, the University of Michigan, the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies of American University, and the Congressional Research Service of the US Congress. Her books include Globalization and the Gulf (UK: Routledge) and The Supreme Court of the United States Political Doctrine (UC Berkeley Press). She has been invited as a member of the board of Amideast, a member of the board of Catholic University of Saint Benedict’s, and a member of the Commission for the Safeguard of the National Monuments of France, amongst other prestigious boards.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Secretary-General of La Francophonie since 2019. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and the East African Community of the Republic of Rwanda, she was previously Minister of Information in the Government of Rwanda. After living in the United States for some 20 years, she moved to Tunisia where she worked at the African Development Bank in the communications directorate. In March 2008, she was called by the President of the Republic of Rwanda to join the government team. Deeply affected by the genocide against the Tutsis in 1994, she co-authored the book Rwanda Means the Universe (Saint Martin’s Press, 2006), an intergenerational and autobiographical socio-historical memoir, and has written numerous press articles. A multi-faceted African politician, she has spoken on numerous television and radio programs on Rwandan and pan-African issues and collaborated on many award-winning documentary films. She also received the 2004 Outstanding Humanitarian Award from the American University & School of International Studies. In May 2018, Jeune Afrique magazine featured her as one of the most influential African figures on the continent. Louise Mushikiwabo, a language and interpretation graduate from the University of Delaware in the United States, is perfectly fluent in French and English, in addition to her native language, Kinyarwanda.
Participation
2021
Former Governor of the State of West Bengal, former Special Advisor and National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India. Led India in institutionalized security and strategic dialogues with several countries including Brazil, France, Japan, Sri Lanka, Germany, Russia, UK and the USA. Prior to this, he was Director of the Intelligence Bureau and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. He also headed the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Developing an Integrated Capability to address Internal Security Challenges. Has dealt extensively with a whole range of issues concerning internal, national and global security, including aspects such as Counter-Terrorism, Counter-Intelligence and Strategic Analysis. Holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Madras.
Participation
2011 2013 2015 2016 2017 2021 2022 2023
President of ECE Consultants SAL since 1982. Chairman of Phoenician Funds Holding (Lebanon), and Executive Director of the Mouflon Fund (Cyprus). He was a consultant at the OECD and Professor of Economics. He has been Chairman at the National Investment Guarantee Corporation (1993-2018) and economic and financial advisor at various GCC countries. He received a Master’s Degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut and a PhD in Economics from Paris.
Participation
2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
President of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) since 2015; Director in 2009-2015; Deputy Director in 1989-1994. He is Professor, Dr. of Science and Full Member of RAS. He has been serving as Editor-in-chief, Vostok (Oriens) journal since 1998; Professor and Chair of the Faculty of World Politics, Moscow State University since 2003; Professor, High School of Economics, Moscow. He was Member, High Level Group, UN Alliance of Civilizations project in 2005-2007, currently Goodwill Ambassador for the Alliance of Civilizations. He was Visiting Professor, American University in Cairo in 1991, and Visiting Professor, University of California in Berkeley in 2003. From 2016 until now he has been Senior Political Advisor to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the UN for Syria. Member of the Advisory Council under the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Author of more than 500 publications in History, Political Science, International Relations, Conflict Management and Resolution, Islam, Middle East and Central Asian Studies.
Participation
2015 2021
Manon Nguyen Van Mai is an Engineering student of the French Corps des mines. She graduated from the “Sciences for environmental challenges” track at École Polytechnique and is currently training to become a civil servant. She completed six months of military service on a surveillance frigate in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. During her studies, she worked for the biotech startup Embleema and for the industrial groups Butagaz and EDF.
Participation
2021
CEO of Linebreak, a global edge management platform. Patrick held a number of global leadership positions during his twenty years at Capgemini from 2000 to 2020 – the last seven as a Group Executive Board member. In his final role as Capgemini’s CTO, he oversaw the Group’s Technology, Innovation and Ventures agenda, as well as the global Cybersecurity and IT functions. Driven by a strong belief in planet-centric design and with values to match, Patrick initiates change and implements solutions that make an impact, with a specific focus on data, security, distributed and decentralized systems. He retains an extensive network of experts in the fields of technology, finance and business.
Participation
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He has been associated with the Institute since 1985. He is concurrently a Senior Fellow at the East-West Center. He was previously a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. He has held research or teaching positions at several universities, including Yale University, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Southern California and Tokyo University. He graduated from Swarthmore College and he holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. His most recent book Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea (2017) was co-authored with Stephan Haggard.
Participation
2014 2017 2018 2019 2021 2023
Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), Morocco. He is an economist, with a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris (1968). He was Mayor of Rabat (2009-2015), Minister of Economy and Finance of the Kingdom of Morocco (1998-2008), Member of the Moroccan Parliament (1977-2002), President of the National Union of Students of Morocco (UNEM) (1966-1968). He has also been a University Professor, Chairman of the Association of Moroccan Economists (AEM) and of the Union of Arab Economists. He has authored many papers on economic theory, financial policy, international economic relations, with a focus on the Euro-Afro-Mediterranean area. La mondialisation et la pandémie. Chroniques de confinement (2021. PCNS. Rabat), La mondialisation et nous (2020. Ed. La Croisée des Chemins. Casablanca), La Chine et nous (2017. Ed. La Croisée des Chemins. Casablanca) are among his latest publications.
Participation
2009 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
International lawyer specializing in European and International law. Ana Palacio served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain (2002-2004) and was a member of the Spanish Parliament (2004-2006) where she chaired the Joint Committee of the two Houses for European Union Affairs. From 1994 to 2002, she was a member of the European Parliament, where she chaired the Legal Affairs and Internal Market as well as the Citizens Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committees. She has been Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group and Secretary-General of ICSID (2006-2008). Palacio has been a member of the Executive Committee and Senior Vice President for International Affairs of AREVA (2008-2009) and served on the Council of State of Spain (2012-2018). Ana Palacio serves on various advisory and executive boards. She is a member of the board of several think tanks and organizations, such as the Atlantic Council of the United States, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Elcano Royal Institute, among others. Ana Palacio is a Visiting Professor at the Edmund E. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She maintains a monthly column at Project Syndicate and a weekly publication at El Mundo, in addition to being a recurrent participant and speaker at international conferences and fora.
Participation
2012 2014 2017 2019 2021
Alice Pannier is Head of the Geopolitics of Technology program, launched at Ifri in October 2020. Her research focuses on the geopolitical dimension of new technology, European technology policies, and transatlantic relations. She has also worked for a long time on European security and the foreign and defense policies of European countries, especially France and the United Kingdom. Prior to joining Ifri, she was Assistant Professor in International Relations and European Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington (2017-2020). Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of strategic research (IRSEM) at the French Ministry of Armed Forces. She is a graduate of King’s College London and Panthéon-Sorbonne University and holds a doctorate in political science from IEP Paris, co-supervised with King’s College.
Participation
2021
Under-Secretary-General, Head of the Iraq Strategic Review Team of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). Former Special Representative of the Secretary General for Sudan and Head of the UNITAMS (United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan), he was also, from October 2005 to January 2021, Executive Chairman and Director of SWP (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, where he was also Senior Advisor. In 2015-2016, he also served as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria; from 2016 to 2018 he chaired the Ceasefire Task Force (CTF) for Syria on behalf of the UN. Volker Perthes earned his doctoral degree in 1990 from the University of Duisburg. He was an assistant professor at the American University of Beirut from 1991 to 1993 and has been teaching International Relations at Humboldt University Berlin and other schools.
Participation
2008 2011 2019 2021 2023
Investment director and Chief of Staff to the CEO of Meridiam, an investment company specialized in sustainable infrastructure. Former Advisor for Energy, Industry and Innovation in the private office of the French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition. He held various positions in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the fields of energy and corporate financing. He also worked for Total Gas & Power New Energies USA and L’Oréal. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and Mines Paristech, Paris, France.
Participation
2017 2018 2019 2021 2023
Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of Shanghai Development Research Foundation (SDRF) which is a non-profit institution with the purpose of promoting research on the issues of development. Outside Expert for International Finance and Economy at the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Qiao was enrolled into Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1985. After graduation, he entered Harvard Institute for International Development and did research work. In 1995, he returned to China as Chief Representative and Managing Director of New York Life until May, 2003. Then he entered Shanghai Development Research Foundation, as responsible for the daily work, a position he still holds today. Prior to studying in the United States, he conducted research at the Institute of World Economy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, as an Assistant Director. He is the author of Great Changes in Global Finance (2021) and China’s Integration into Global Financial System and its Impact on the Rest of the World (2019).
Participation
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University, President Emeritus and Counselor of the Israel Institute (Washington and Tel Aviv), and a Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He is also the Vice Chairman of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. He served as Ambassador of Israel to the United States and Chief Negotiator with Syria in the mid-1990s, and as the President of Tel Aviv University (1999-2007). Prof. Rabinovich has been a member of Tel Aviv University’s faculty since 1971. He co-authored a book with Itai Brun, Israel Facing a New Middle East: In Search of a National Security Strategy (Hoover Institution Press, 2017). The same year, he published the biography of Yitzhak Rabin (Yale University Press). In 2023, he published Middle Eastern Maze: Israel, the Arabs, and the Region, 1948 – 2022 (Brookings Institution Press).
Participation
2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania. A former professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, a player of Albanian national basketball team and a renown publicist, he entered active politics as Minister of Culture in 1998. In 2000, he became Mayor of Tirana. He was re-elected as Mayor in 2003 and 2007 and led the Albanian capital for 11 years. In 2005, he was elected Chair of the Socialist Party of Albania. Elected Albania’s Prime Minister for the first time in 2013, Edi Rama was re-elected for two new mandates in 2017 and in 2021. With a remarkably rich and diverse career path, he counts his contribution in arts, sports and teaching, as a publicist and politician. His involvement in the public and political life of the country starts with the movement for democracy that led to the dismantling of the communist regime in Albania.
Participation
2017 2021
Commissioner for Justice in charge of Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, European Commission. A father of four, Didier Reynders was born in Liège on 6th August 1958. In 1981, he obtained a degree in law at the University of Liège. Guest lecturer at the universities of Liège and Louvain, he has never really left the academic life until he became on 1st December 2019 European Commissioner for Justice. After presiding over the Belgian railways and the Belgian Airways Agency, he was elected Deputy Chairman of the PRL (Liberal party), before becoming a Member of Parliament in 1992 (until 2019). On 12th July 1999, he became Minister of Finance (until 6th December 2011) and, on 18th July 2004, (concurrently) Deputy Prime Minister (until 30th November 2019). He was Chairman of the Mouvement Réformateur (liberal party alliance) from 11th October 2004 until 14th February 2011. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs from 6th December 2011 until 11th October 2014. He became Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, in charge of Beliris and Federal Cultural Institutions on 1st October 2014 (until 30th November 2019). He also became Minister of Defense on 9th December 2018 (until 30th November 2019). Since 1st December 2019 he is European Commissioner for Justice, in charge of Rule of Law and Consumer Protection.
Participation
2013 2021
International Affairs Executive Director of Abu Dhabi Global Market. Previously, he was International Affairs Directo of the French Prudential and Resolution Authority (ACPR), an institution integrated into the Banque de France.
Participation
2016 2021
Foreign Desk Editor of Les Echos, the French business newspaper. Previously, she was the daily newspaper’s New York correspondent (2008-2012), where she covered the financial crisis and the two Obama presidential elections. Earlier in her career at Les Echos, she held various positions as an IT writer and created in 2000 a special section dedicated to the internet economy and to innovation. Her first job was as a business writer for 01 Informatique, the leading IT trade magazine in France. She is the author of a book L’irrésistible montée de l’économie sociale, Editions Autrement, published in March 2007. In 2021-2022, she was an auditor at the Collège des hautes études de l’institut diplomatique. Virginie is the vice President of the European-American Press Club in Paris and a member of the French Diplomatic Press Association. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Valparaiso University, IN. and a Master of Journalism from Medill School, Northwestern University, ILL.
Participation
2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2023
Acceleration Manager within the Interministerial Digital Directorate, his role revolves around empowering state startups to increase their impact and scale their operations. Prior to joining the Prime Minister’s office, he had the opportunity to work for Jane Street, Google, the French railway group SNCF and the e-commerce giant Wayfair. He holds an engineering degree from corps des mines and Ecole polytechique, as well as a MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Founding Partner of Okan Partners, strategy and financial advisory boutique dedicated to Africa since 2012. Former McKinsey, PAI Partners and Ardian, Benjamin has developed an expertise in financial advisory and fundraising in Africa. At Okan, he mainly leads infrastructure, agriculture and mining sectors. Benjamin graduated from HEC Paris.
Participation
2017 2019 2021
Australia’s Ambassador to the United States since March 2023. He served as Australia’s twenty-sixth Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Minister for Foreign Affairs, before a second term as Prime Minister in 2013. He was Member for Griffith in the Australian Parliament from 1998 to 2013. He started his diplomatic career in 1981 with postings to Beijing and Stockholm. In 1988, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Hon Wayne Goss and served him as Premier of Queensland. He was Director-General of the Cabinet Office in Queensland from 1991 to 1995, and Senior China Consultant for KPMG from 1996 to 1998. He graduated with Honours in Asian Studies from the Australian National University and received his PhD from Oxford University in 2022. He also studied at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. In 2015, he became inaugural President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. In 2020, he was appointed President and CEO of the Asia Society globally and, in 2022, he founded the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. In 2019, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to Indigenous reconciliation, innovative economic initiatives, and major policy reform, and through senior advisory roles with international organizations.
Participation
2016 2019 2021 2022 2023
Primary care physician and senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research. She got her M.D from Sapporo Medical University and worked as a physician at St Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo for several years. She then got a scholarship from the World Bank and got her MPH at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health and PhD in public health at the University of Tokyo in 2021. From 2011-2013 and 2016, she worked at the international cooperation department, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, where she was deeply involved in health policy activities in Japan. As part of the work, she participated in WHO meetings, G7 meetings, and bilateral cooperation activities through JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). She’s also currently working as associate professor at the Tokyo Women’s Medical University, senior manager at the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI). Her current research focuses on health system strengthening, health care financing, and politics in global health.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
Former General Commissioner for Investment (2014-2018). He served as Chairman of the French Foreign Affairs Council until 2017 and currently serves as Special Representative of the French Foreign Minister for the Franco-Japanese partnership. He was Chairman and CEO of Renault (1992-2005). During his tenure, he was also President of the Management Board of Renault Nissan BV (2002-2005). Formerly, he was a Civil Servant at the Budget Department and then served as Chief of Staff of Laurent Fabius, Minister of Budget in 1981, Minister for Industry and Research in 1983, and Prime Minister (1984-1986). Since 2012, he is vice chairman of IFRI.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
Former Ambassador of Israel to France. During his 27-year long career in Israel’s diplomatic service, he also served as Director of European Affairs, Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry and Consul General in San Francisco. He has extensive experience in European Affairs and has participated in several chapters of Arab-Israeli negotiations, in particular while working with the late Shimon Peres. He has for many years taken part in devising media strategies for the Foreign Ministry and is considered an expert on public diplomacy. Since leaving the Foreign Service, he has co-founded NEXUS Elite Task Force and teaches Diplomacy at Tel Aviv University. He is among the leaders of the “Track II Environmental Forum”, an Israeli-Palestinian NGO devoted to resolving cross-border environmental challenges through Environmental Diplomacy.
Participation
2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
CEO of the American Hospital of Paris since 2017, a worldwide renowned, non-for-profit hospital. He is also leading the International Patients working group of French Healthcare, an organization created under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development. From 2014 to 2016, Robert Sigal has been President and Chief Commercial Officer of InSightec, the leading MedTech company for MR guided Focused Ultrasound. From 2007 to 2013 Robert Sigal spent seven years at GE Healthcare, first in the Hospital and Healthcare Solutions business unit (2007-2009), then as General Manager and President of GE Healthcare France (2010-2013). Prior to joining industry, Robert Sigal had a seventeen-year career at Institut Gustave Roussy, the largest comprehensive cancer center in France. He was successively staff radiologist, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiology, and finally Executive Medical Director.
Participation
2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Executive Director of Capgemini Ventures, since January 2019, Ms. Lucia Sinapi graduated from ESSEC business school (1986) and started her career as a tax and business lawyer in 1986, was admitted to the Paris bar (1989), before joining Capgemini in 1992. She was successively Group Tax Advisor (1992), head of Corporate Finance, Treasury and Investors Relations (1999), taking over Risk Management and Insurance in 2005. She was appointed Deputy Chief Financial Officer in 2013, and from January 2016 Executive Director of Business Platforms Unit. Lucia Sinapi-Thomas is a member of the Board of Directors of Capgemini SE, Bureau Veritas since May 2013 and Dassault Aviation since May 2014.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
President of Club România. He started his career in journalism in 1990 as editor of the Tineretul Liber newspaper. He then worked as a press correspondent for a Romanian newspaper and TV channel, in Hungary and Republic of Moldova. He then became Personal Advisor for the Secretary of State for the Romanians Abroad (2000) and for the Minister of Tourism (2001-2003). He was Under Secretary of State for Foreign Trade (2009). He is a member of Chatham House, London, and also a member of the Aspen Institute Romania. He graduated in Journalism and Communication Sciences.
Participation
2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2021
Internationally known Art Dealer, specializing in Islamic Art. Since its establishment in 1975, his London-based company, Ahuan Islamic Art, has organized major Islamic exhibitions. ‘The Unity of Islamic Art’ exhibition inaugurated the Islamic galleries of the King Faisal Foundation in Riyadh in 1985. Ahuan has supplied important Islamic works of art to numerous private collections, including the outstanding collection of the late Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Sabah and Sheikha Hussa al-Sabah in Kuwait. Ahuan has also provided important works of Islamic art to many major international museum collections, including the British Museum, the Louvre in Paris, the Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin, the C.L. David Collection, Copenhagen, the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, as well as notable museum collections in Islamic countries, such as the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. David Sulzberger was for three years an advisor to the ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA) planning the Saudi Arabian National Museum in Riyadh. He continues to work closely with both private collectors and government agencies in the Arab and Islamic World.
Participation
2021
Member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. Agrégé in Public Law, he is Emeritus Professor of Public Law, University of Paris Panthéon-Assas, where he set up the Master of International Relations (2000-2012). He was Deputy Director of the UNIDIR, Geneva (1986-1996) and ad hoc Judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague (2009-2012). He is the founder and was Director (1999-2012) of the Thucydides Center-Analysis and Research in International Relations, and Director (2000-2020) of the French Yearbook of International Relations (AFRI). He is also Editor-in-chief of the bimonthly journal Questions internationales since 2003 (Documentation française). In 2008, he received the Edouard Bonnefous Award from the Académie des sciences morales et politiques, Institut de France.
Participation
2009 2010 2011 2012 2014 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and Director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan. He graduated from the Department of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, and received Ph.D. from Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex, England. He has worked in the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique in Paris, France as assistant researcher and the Associate Professor at the University of Tsukuba from 2000 to 2008 and served as Professor of International Politics at Hokkaido University until 2020. He served as an expert in the Panel of Experts for Iranian Sanction Committee under the United Nations Security Council from 2013 to July 2015. He currently serves as a member of the National Space Policy Committee of the Cabinet Office, the Government of Japan, and the President of Japan Association of International Security and Trade. His research focuses on the conjunction of science/technology and international relations; subjects including space policy, non-proliferation, export control and sanctions. His recent work includes Space and International Politics (2011, in Japanese, awarded Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities), Policy Logics and Institutions of European Space Collaboration (2003) and many others.
Participation
2021 2022 2023
President of Berit International Holding SA, President of Batiliban-France, Franco-Arab Consortium for development, board member of the executive committee of the Franco-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Paris, board member and founding member of the Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce, Beyrouth. He was Advisor to the Lebanese President for the French-speaking world (1986-1988) and Advisor to the Minister of Finance for the private sector (1999-2001). He is the author of numerous books and studies on economic development, environment and land-use planning. He graduated from the Institut d’Urbanisme, Paris-Sorbonne University.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Ambassador of Albania to France, and non-resident to Monaco and Portugal, Representative at the International Organization of La Francophonie. He worked for a long period of time for the European Union, notably at the European Commission and the European External Action Service, where he was in charge of political issues and European and regional developments. He chaired the ad hoc Committee on Accession and Changes to the Statute of La Francophonie and is a founding member of the Group of Francophone Ambassadors of France, of which he was elected Vice Chairman three times. He has been Chairman or member of steering committees of various international organs and programs in the field of development and democratization.
Participation
2021
Member of the French Council of State. He graduated from HEC Paris, Sciences Po Paris and the French School of Administration. He also holds a degree from Johns Hopkins University. He started his career at the French Senate by working on international affairs. He wrote several reports on the strategic issues raised by the digital economy.
Participation
2021
CEO of Act III Consultants, a management-consulting firm dedicated to digital transformation, and McKinsey Senior Advisor. Previously she was Chairwoman and CEO of Vivendi Universal Publishing (€4B revenue, video games and book publishing), after spending 10 years within the Hachette/Lagardère group and 5 years within McKinsey. She is a board member of Proximus (Belgacom), GBL (Groupe Bruxelles Lambert), Rexel, SNCF and a member of the supervisory board of Tarkett. She is also a board member of several non-profit organizations such as IDATE, the French-American Foundation and chaired the French governance institute (IFA) until June 2019. She graduated from Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University (MBA).
Participation
2012 2015 2017 2018 2019 2021
Senegalese politician and Human Rights activist. Member of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration of the United Nations (UN/CEPA). She held several governmental positions including Prime Minister (2013-2014), Minister of Justice (2012-2013), President’s Special Envoy for Internal and External Affairs (2015-2019), President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (2019-2020), and elected representative of the National Assembly (July 2022). Dr. Touré worked for 24 years in the United Nations Organization where she held technical expert positions in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. She also headed the Gender and Human Rights Direction at the United Nations Population Fund Headquarters in New York. At the early stage of her career, Dr. Touré worked in the private sector and with the Senegalese branch of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. From 2014 to 2020, Dr. Touré led and co-led Presidential election observation missions on behalf of the African Union and The Carter Center in Mauritius, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia and Guyana. Aminata Touré holds a Master in Economics and an MBA from the University of Aix-Marseille in France and a PhD from the International School of Management in Paris. Dr. Touré directed more than 30 United Nations publications and authored in 2021 a book highlighting Africa’s contribution to International Penal Law through the Extraordinary Judiciary Chambers that tried Hissein Habré, former President of Chad.
Participation
2017 2019 2021 2022 2023
President of the French “Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques”. He is honorary chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bruegel Institute (Brussels), honorary chairman of the Group of Thirty (Washington) and former European Chairman of the Trilateral Commission. Jean-Claude Trichet was President of the European Central Bank (2003-2011). He was Governor of Banque de France (1993-2003) and Undersecretary of the French Treasury (1987- 1993). He was President of the Paris Club (debt rescheduling) (1985-1993), President of the European Monetary Committee (1992-1993), President of the Group of 10 Central Banks Governors and President of the Global economy meeting in Basel (2002-2011). He was President of Sogepa (Société de Gestion des Participations Aéronautiques) (2012-2013) and Director of Airbus Group (2012-2018). He was named “Person of the Year” by the Financial Times in 2007 and n° 5 of the “World Most Powerful” in the Newsweek list (2008). Born in Lyon in 1942, Jean-Claude Trichet is an honorary inspecteur général des Finances and ingénieur civil des Mines. He is a graduate of the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, of the Université de Paris (in economics) and of the École Nationale d’Administration. Jean-Claude Trichet has been awarded honorary doctorates by several universities.
Participation
2008 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Isabelle Tsakok, development practitioner, policy analyst, researcher, and teacher, is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South. She grew up in the Republic of Mauritius, a multilingual, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. She holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University, and a BA in Philosophy/Economics from the London School of Economics. As World Bank staff and consultant, she has focused on agricultural and rural development including on issues of agricultural transformation, food security, and poverty reduction. She has worked in most regions of the developing world, including Africa – North and South of the Sahara; Asia – South, Southeast and East; and Latin America. She has taught courses on agricultural policies and institutions at the World Bank; the School of Agricultural and Rural Department, Renmin University of China; the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University; and the Université Polytechnique Mohamed VI, Morocco. Her publications address issues of methodology of partial equilibrium analysis for assessing agricultural policies and distortions; and of agricultural transformation from smallholder, subsistence to demand-driven commercial farming. Her latest book publication is Success in Agricultural Transformation: What it Means and What Makes it Happen (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011).
Participation
2021
Medical Director of FCA/Lucca Health Group in Ghana. She has achieved significant, sustainable impacts in public health, pediatrics, ethics, and philanthropy in Africa, the USA and Europe. As Chair of the Board of Trustees for United Way Worldwide from 2019 to 2022, Dr. Tuakli oversaw the diversification and strengthening of the organization’s governance within a complex global context. Since 2019 she has served annually as a judge in the health category for the UAE El-Zayed Sustainability Prize. In June 2022 she oversaw the launch of an Africa-wide Safe Surgical partnership between Mercy Ships and WHO, and the Global Mercy – the largest hospital ship in the world. In November 2022, Mercy Ships appointed her in the newly created role of Diplomatic Ambassador for Africa. Dr. Tuakli remains a Zenith Bank and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative International Board member, and she is also on the the board of the Global Vaccine Network. Most recently she joined the board of CarePoint: an Africa-focused healthcare company. She co-founded the MOREMI/UN Women Girls’ Leadership & Development program. She also spearheaded Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment for several years. The African Union has recognized her contributions to the continent. She has had a leading role in creating a focus on Health, as well as several speaking roles, at the WPC. Prior to working in Ghana, Dr. Tuakli was the first African female medical Professor at Harvard Medical School. Her highly acclaimed medical practice in Accra, Ghana was recently acquired by the US-based Black Ivy Group.
Participation
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Polyteia. An entrepreneur and public policy professional passionate about the way technology is going to transform governments and cities. Polyteia enables city leaders with data-empowered governance solutions. His previous work experience ranges from non-profit sector to public sector. He has worked as a project manager for the LEAD Academy, a Berlin based social-startup promoting leadership for the public good. He is also a partner at Quinoa, a German social enterprise that focuses on offering an alternative educational model for children coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Participation
2021
Non-Executive Director of Norge Mining. Ingvil Tybring-Gjedde brings an exceptional level of experience to Norge Mining’s Board as a Non-Executive Director. A representative of the Norwegian Progress Party (FrP) and the former Deputy Minister in the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, she will be a guiding light as the country explores its exciting economic next steps. Ingvil was also the Minister of Public Security in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security from January 2019 until January 2020. And she previously worked as a Senior Advisor in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in oil and gas management positions at Innovation Norway. Committees of the Board: Remuneration (Member) & ESG (Chair).
Participation
2021 2022
CEO of Norge Mining. John Vergopoulos brings decisive, hands-on leadership to Norge Mining, as well as an international financial ‘black book’ and years of experience in the mineral resources sector. He has a strong fundraising track record in capital, private equity and syndicated loan markets. He has been an SME Board Director and a CEO and CFO for various publicly traded corporations in the tech and mineral resources industries. Over the years, John has been in charge of dealing with government institutions throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. He started out his career as a chartered accountant in Deloitte’s London Audit Department.
Participation
2021
Co-founder of Bruegel in Brussels in 2002-2005, joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC in 2009, and is currently employed on equal terms by both organizations as a Senior Fellow. His research is primarily about financial systems and financial services policies, with a main geographical focus on Europe. A graduate of France’s École Polytechnique and École des mines, his earlier experience includes senior positions in the French government and private sector in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is also an independent board member of the global derivatives trade repository arm of DTCC, a financial infrastructure company that operates on a non-profit basis. In September 2012, Bloomberg Markets included Véron in its yearly global “50 Most Influential” list with reference to his early advocacy of European banking union.
Participation
2009 2018 2021 2022
Director of the Strategy and Planning Department, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Mr. Villain is also a permanent invitee to ADIA’s Investment Committee. He began his career as an Assistant Professor of Finance at Paris University, before joining Banque Paribas in 1971 as a Portfolio Manager and later Head of Investments in the Asset Management Department. He joined ADIA in 1982, as Regional Manager for Europe before being appointed as a Senior Fund Manager for all financial assets. He returned to Paribas in 1987 to become the first Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the newly created Paribas Asset Management Company. In 1992, he re-joined ADIA as Regional Manager for European Assets before being promoted in 1995 to the position of Advisor and then Senior Advisor for Investment Strategy. He then became Head of the Tactical Asset Allocation Unit and later Head of the Strategy Unit. Mr. Villain is a member of the Investment Committee of the Abu Dhabi Benefits and Retirement Fund, the pension fund of the citizens of Abu Dhabi. From 2004 to 2013 he was a Director of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and a Governor of the British Community School in Abu Dhabi (BSAK). In 2007, the President of the French Republic made him Chevalier de la Légion d’ Honneur. In 2014 he was made Officer of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen of England. In December 2020 the President of the French Republic promoted him to “ Officier de la Legion d’Honneur”. He was educated in Paris in Politics, Economics and Sciences (Applied Mathematics).
Participation
2021 2023
Professor in the School of International Studies and President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Peking University. He has been Peking University Boya Chair Professor since 2017. He is Honorary President of the Chinese Association for American Studies, and was a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Committee of China’s Foreign Ministry (2008-2016). He taught in Peking University’s Department of International Politics (1983-1991), and then served as Director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences until 2005. From 2005 to 2013, he served as dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University. He was concurrently Director of the Institute of International Strategic Studies of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China (2001- 2009). He was a Global Scholar at Princeton University (2011-2015). He obtained an MA degree from Peking University.
Participation
2012 2016 2018 2021 2022
An astute economist and entrepreneur, Michael will advise on the finances and strategic direction of Norge Mining. He has worked for Citibank Zurich, and has held a prestigious array of senior positions at multinational financial institutions in New York and Frankfurt. He has previously been mandated by various governments, finance ministries and state banks to help settle sovereign debts. Over the years, Michael has advised on structure financing for companies in the natural resources, commodities and mining sectors in Russia, the Middle East and Mongolia.
Participation
2021
Dr. David Wurmser, is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Project on Global Anti-Semitism and the US-Israel Relationship at the Center for Security Policy, as well as being a Senior Fellow at the Kohelet Policy Forum. He also is the executive and founding member of the Delphi Global Analysis Group, LLC – a firm specializing in geopolitical risk analysis and mitigation for hydrocarbon, infrastructure, high-tech, defense and financial firms from the United States, Japan and India navigating in Israel and the Middle East – since its founding in 2007. From December 2018 until September 2019, Dr. Wurmser also served as Senior Advisor (Special Government Employee) to the US National Security Advisor, Ambassador John Bolton.
Participation
2021
Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the United States. Former Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to France. He has worked and consulted for various UN agencies and think tanks. He served as Head of Policy Planning, Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Diplomatic Advisor to Deputy President Adil Abd al-Mahdi. He is a Member of the American Physical Society and of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He was educated in Iraq, Switzerland and the United States. He is a graduate of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Participation
2012 2013 2021
Member of Parliament of the French National Assembly since her election in June 2022 and she seats in the Foreign Affairs Commission. She is the representative of the first electoral district of her native island of Mayotte, a French overseas territory located in the Eastern African Mozambique Channel. Estelle is part of the Center-Right political group “Libertés, Indépendants, Outre-mer et Territoires”. Her civic engagement as the head of the citizens movement in Mayotte and her election followed her 20-year career as a TV journalist and communication and international affairs consultant. Among various international companies and institutions, Estelle worked for the World Bank as well as the African Development Bank as a consultant and as a journalist for France 2, TV5 Monde, Al Jazeera English and LCI. She created a conference called The Leaders’ Seminar which gathered 60 Western, Arab and African leaders in Marrakech in 2014, Abidjan in 2016, Kigali in 2017. She is a member of the Africa Leadership Network, an alumna of the Young Leaders program of the French-American Foundation (2011-2012) and the German Marshall Fund’s Atlantic Dialogues Young Leaders program (2013). Born in 1978, Estelle graduated with a degree in journalism studies in Tours, France, before studying international relations and political studies at Quebec University of Montreal, Canada.
Participation
2015 2021 2022 2023
Chairman of the Management Board of the Institute of Contemporary Development. Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), he was President of the All-Russian Insurance Association, President of the Russian Association of Motor Insurers, and President of the National Union of Liability Insurers. He is a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian International Affairs Council. He is also Honorary Consul General of Monaco in Moscow and Director of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) Centre for Sustainable Development and ESG Transformation. He graduated in economics from Moscow State University (MSU).
Participation
2011 2012 2013 2015 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Co-Chair of SouthBridge, a Financial Advisory Service company dedicated to Africa. Chairman of Terra Nova think tank. Former Prime Minister of Benin (2015-2016). He started his career as a lecturer in economics at the University of Paris 13 and was a member of the Department of Industry’s Minister’s Office and the Prime Minister’s Office. In 1986, he joined Danone where he held various positions, including Corporate Development Director and member of the Executive Committee. In 1997, he joined the Rothschild Bank as General Partner; he was Head of the Consumer Products Group, Head of Middle East and Africa. He then served as CEO of the Private Equity firm PAI Partners (2009-2015). He graduated from École Normale Supérieure, Sciences Po, the London School of Economics and La Sorbonne in History and Economics. He is a professeur agrégé de sciences économiques et sociales.