Invited guests
Managing Director & CEO of Canal Sugar, a UAE-Egyptian multi billion dollar agricultural industrial group in Egypt that aims to ensure Egypt self-sufficiency in sugar. Dr. Kamel Abdallah is a national food security expert, specializing in turnaround management and leadership of large agricultural industrial groups in the region. For over twenty years, he has led large regional companies with emphasis on Agri-Food companies in the Middle East with turnaround mandates. He has served in Board Director/Managing Director/CEO positions in Agri/Food based companies, including Baladna QPSC, Aujan Industries/Rani Investments, and Exeed Industries/National Holding. Dr. Abdallah remains integrated with the industry and with academia, where he has served as Asst Vice President of the American University of Beirut; and Professor of Strategy and Finance as well as being a tenured Prof and department chair at accredited business schools in the USA. Dr. Abdallah holds a Ph.D in Strategic Management & Finance (OSU), and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Agri Business management program.
Participation
2023
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
President of GIIGNL (International Group of LNG Importers), non executive Director of Tellurian Inc. (AMEX: TELL). Jean Abiteboul is the former President of Cheniere Supply and Marketing, a 100% subsidiary of Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG), a Houston based company specializing in liquefied natural gas importation and exportation, and senior consultant in the energy field. He joined Cheniere in 2006, after having held various positions within Gaz de France (now Engie), among which Executive Vice President for Supply, Trading & Marketing, President of Gaselys, International Executive Vice President as well as Advisor to the Chairman & CEO and Secretary of the Board of Directors. He graduated from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon.
Participation
2009 2010 2012 2013 2015 2018 2019 2023
Ambassador of Bangladesh to UAE and Permanent Representative to IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency). His Excellency Mohammed Abu Zafar, a career diplomat, joined Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Affairs) in 1991. During his 31 years of service with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Bangladesh, he served in different capacities at home and abroad. Prior to his diplomatic career, he worked in the Ministry of Post & Telecommunication as well as in the Ministry of Agriculture since 1987.
Participation
2023
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
Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). Before taking on this position, H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy was Vice Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). He has also served as Deputy Governor for Technical Affairs at SAMA, Director General at Economic Research and Statistics, as well as Director of Training, Research and Information at the Institute of Banking. Before that, he taught Economics at the King Saud University. Dr. Al Hamidy was a member of the Board of Executive Directors in the Arab Monetary Fund, as well as other organizations. He has participated in international meetings such as G20, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), as well as meetings of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Financial Stability Board (FSB), and Council of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB). In addition, with his appointment as Director General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, Dr. Al Hamidy also holds the position of Chief Executive Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Arab Trade Financing Program “ATFP” and Chairman of the Board of “BUNA”.
Participation
2023
General Manager of Rebound, a solution-oriented business focused on keeping plastics out of the environment and within the economy. She has extensive experience in government policy and strategic programs, locally and globally. Her expertise in economics and the environment has enabled her to develop key policies, approved by the Cabinet, in collaboration with stakeholders and ministries. She holds professional accreditation certificates in Public Policy Analysis, Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, and Strategic Policy Planning. She is dedicated to public service and empowering youth in climate-related decision-making. With the support of the UAE government and the backing of the IHC of Abu Dhabi, she has spearheaded the development of innovative and sustainable solutions at Rebound. Her diverse background and expertise contribute greatly to Rebound’s mission of reducing plastic waste and ensuring a more sustainable future.
Participation
2023
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
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Dr. Ameena Al-Sumaiti is a highly accomplished academic with a passion for research that drives impact in the UAE. Listed among the top 2% of scientists in the world for research citations in 2021 and 2022, she is an expert in the fields of renewable energy, smart city planning, transportation networks, data analytics, and other aspects of energy, technology, and advanced sciences. Dr. Al-Sumaiti has participated in the National Experts Program NEP 3.0, representing the “Advanced Sciences and Research” sector, a key contributing sector to economic growth. She was also on the shortlist of a national talent search among 2000 applicants. She received her Doctorate and Master degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo (Canada) in 2015 and 2010, respectively. She was a visiting professor at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) in 2017 and is currently with Khalifa University as an Associate Professor. Dr. Al-Sumaiti received more than 50 awards, recognitions, and local and international fellowships, and has made significant contributions to society through capacity-building, education, and research. Dr. Al-Sumaiti has 4-electronic newsletters, 7 book chapters, 97 journal articles and 43 conference articles.
Participation
2023
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
Director of the Policy Planning Department at the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC). Prior to his current position, he served as a Deputy Director within the same deparment and as a Senior Specialist in the Office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. He currently holds the rank of Counsellor. With a diplomatic career spanning over a decade, Alneyadi has worked as the Head of the International Security Coordination Section in the International Security Cooperation Department, from 2015 to 2016. He has also served as the Head of Political and Economics Sections at the UAE Embassy in Ottawa, from 2012 to 2015. Prior to this, he worked as a Desk Officer at the European Affairs Department, between 2011 and 2012. Alneyadi holds a Master of International Strategy and Diplomacy from the London School of Economics and Political Studies (LSE), as well as a Bachelor of Art in Interpreting and Translation, from the University of Western Sydney, Australia.
Participation
2023
Founder of Intisar Foundation. HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, author, film producer, columnist, and a princess of the AlSabah family, the ruling family of Kuwait. Her pioneering contribution to humanity’s greatest cause – Peace – is embodied in Intisar Foundation which has developed and introduced an innovative approach to the field of Peacebuilding that is rooted in enabling the psychological recovery and self-empowerment of women traumatised by war and violence through the use of drama therapy. HH Sheikha Intisar received the insignia of the Knight in the Order of the Crown by His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium, and the insignia of the Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour by H.E. Former French President François Holland. She was also included in the 50 Most Influential Women in The Arab World in 2021 by CEO Middle East, MOJEH 100 Women in the MENA region 2022, Arabian Business 50 Inspiring Women Leaders 2023 by Arabian Business, Most Creative People in Business in the Middle East 2023 by Fast Company Middle East, among other recognitions. In addition to her philanthropic work, HH Sheikha Intisar’s social enterprises (Intisars and Ebbarra) spearhead a new movement of women’s self-empowerment, while her non-profit organisations (Alnowair and Bareec) supplement the formal education system and improve organisational cultures with programmes in socio-emotional skills based upon positive psychology.
Participation
2023
Secretary of the French national committee on generative Artificial Intelligence and deputy head of the Corps des mines, a talent development program recruiting each year top 18 French engineers to work as civil servants in energy and environmental policy, digital transformation as well economic and industrial development. Before that, Arno Amabile has brought the State’s support for economic and industrial development in the eastern region around Strasbourg, heading the local efforts to support and stimulate the economy during the pandemic. He has also worked for the ministry of Justice to elaborate their new digital transformation plan. Each time, is has sought to bring his passion for empowering people and organizations to reach agility and operational excellence. Arno is a graduate of the Paris Ecole Normale Supérieure in Economics and the New York University in Urban data science, as well as a Fulbright laureate and a graduate of the Corps des mines program at Mines Paris.
Participation
2023
CEO and a board member of Intisar Foundation, the first and only charity (founded by HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah), operating in the Middle East that provides psychological support to women affected by war, armed conflicts, trauma and violence through Drama Therapy. Intisar Foundation’s mission is also the bring Peace to the region through mental health. Karima Anbar is also the Founding Member and Director General of the Global Diwan, an international club connecting East and West leaders and established to boost business, academic, cultural projects and initiatives through exclusive events. The Global Diwan provides to its members a platform for unique opportunities of meeting and networking in Europe and in the main Arab capital cities. Karima Anbar started her career as a French Diplomat in the field of human rights, women rights, political analysis and civil societies in Arab countries.
Participation
2023
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
Economist, local and national government official, politician, Poland. Volkswagen AG Head of Group Office Poland – Government Relations and Public Policy Volkswagen AG since 2016. She served as undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy, responsible for international trade, investment and European Funds (2011-2015), secretary of the Chief Executive Committee of the Polish People’s Party (PSL) (2012-2015) and Deputy Governor (Voivode) of Dolnośląskie Region (2010-2011). She graduated from the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder) and from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. She acquired international experience at the École Nationale d’Administration in Paris and Helsinki University of Technology, among others.
Participation
2017 2023
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
President & CEO of BLG Logistics, Inc., the US subsidiary of the BLG Group, specializing in facility-based, contract logistics in North America. BLG Logistics enjoys a dedicated team of over 220 professionals focused on processes, IT systems and automation for automotive, retail and heavy industrial brands. As a current member of the Board for the German American Chamber of Commerce South in Atlanta, Kirk actively contributes to fostering business and education between North America and Germany. He serves also as Chairman of the Board for the Alabama Germany Partnership and holds a director position on the Birmingham Industrial Development Board.
Participation
2023
Founder and CEO of AirCapture, a supplier of clean CO2 captured from the atmosphere to radically improve the environment, the economy, and our lives. He is a technologist, chemist, entrepreneur, and pioneer in the DAC space. He has over 20 years’ experience in renewable and climate technology development and over a decade of experience with DAC and CO2 utilization technologies. He developed the world’s first energy-positive wastewater treatment platform as Founder & CEO of Algae Systems. He has built and commercialized technologies in CO2, water, AgTech, waste treatment, and biofuels.
Participation
2023
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
Director of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center (b’huth) which he co-founded in 2002. Before that, he worked as Editor for Gulf Defense Magazine and a number of media outlets. He focuses on the interplay between geostrategy and policymaking in governance, stability, capacity building, and future-proofing. Mohammed Baharoon has also worked as Deputy Director of Watani (UAE’s first initiative on National Identity) and was also a founding member of the board of “Bussola Institute” a think tank in Brussels that focuses on the changing and emerging aspects of the partnership between the EU and the GCC member states. As part of his interest in the emerging geostrategic space of the Arabian Peninsula, Mohammed looks at the interconnected world order and the Global Connectivity Agenda UAE is developing across the region through arteries of trade, money, people, and data and the impact this had on its regional and global partnerships including regional and trans-regional initiatives like the Abrahamic Accords & I2U2.
Participation
2023
Assistant Minister for Health and Life Sciences in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also serves as the Director General of the Frontline Heroes Office in the UAE. Professor Maha Barakat is the former Chair of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, has held the post of Director General of the Health Authority Abu Dhabi 2013-2018, and was Co-Founder, Medical & Research Director and Consultant Endocrinologist at the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC) in Abu Dhabi. She has served as a member of the Social Development Committee of the Executive Council of the Government of Abu Dhabi, and Board member of several Government of Abu Dhabi-related entities including the Board of Trustees of Khalifa University, the Family Development Foundation, the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, and the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi. As part of her role within the Health Authority, in addition to the fight against lifestyle-related disease, Professor Barakat has supported several public health eradication campaigns against communicable disease both within the UAE and internationally, including Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
Participation
2022 2023
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
Chief Executive Officer Institut Louis Bachelier. Professor at Université Paris-Dauphine. Jean-Michel Beacco is graduated from Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (engineer) and Stanford Graduate School of Business (executive MBA). He started his career in 1989 at Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations as a Quant involved in the first French securitization program. From 1992 onwards, he headed the capital market’s Credit Trading and structuring department at Société Générale (1992-2000), CACIB (-2005) and Natixis (-2009). Since 2009, Jean-Michel Beacco has been Chief Executive Officer of Institut Louis Bachelier, the public-private Paris based research center in economy and finance. Jean-Michel Beacco is associate Professor of Finance at Université Paris-Dauphine and President of the department of economics at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech.
Participation
2023
Co-Chairman of World Network of Security and Defence Professionals for prevention and combating terrorism. Former Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of ECOWAS. General Francis A. BEHANZIN has notably managed with great efficiency and discernment political affairs, promotion of democratic governance, and peace in West African region. He has methodically and rationally led the development of the 2020-2024 regional action plan to combat terrorism. With several specialized military and police trainings in Europe, the United States, Canada and Africa, particularly on organized crime and peace operations, he is also auditor of the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Defense Nationale de Paris (IHEDN), lecturer at the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Défense Nationale in Paris and a member of the Benin Human Rights Commission of Benin. He holds a Masters in Law and Political Sciences from the National University of Benin.
Participation
2022 2023
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
Chief Executive Officer of Jeune Afrique Media Group. President of the Africa CEO Forum. After graduating from the INSEEC School of Business, Mr. Amir Ben Yahmed began his career at NYC-based investment banking firm Gruntal & Co. before joining Jeune Afrique Media Group, one of Africa’s leading media and event organisations. It is recognised internationally for its reach, authority, integrity and accuracy. In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ben Yahmed actively pursues the Group’s strategy which is to provide essential news, expert analysis and services to Africa-focused clients around the world. In addition, Mr. Ben Yahmed is Founder and President of the AFRICA CEO FORUM, which, since its creation in 2012, has cemented its status as the foremost meeting of the African private sector. Each year, the Annual Summit of the AFRICA CEO FORUM brings together over 1,800 participants from more than 70 countries, including 40 African States. The 2022 edition saw the participation of more than 800 CEOs, 4 Heads of State, 100 Ministers, 100 heads of international development financial institutions and more than 200 journalists from Africa and overseas.
Participation
2023
Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United Arab Emirates.
At the Federal Chancellery in Vienna, H.E. Dr. Etienne Berchtold previously worked as Foreign and European policy spokesperson for three Austrian Chancellors. Before that, Etienne Berchtold, who studied law, worked for several years as spokesperson for the Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz, respectively before among others as an employee at the Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels and for Shell Austria GmbH in Austria.
Participation
2023
Chief Executive Director of The Africa International Media Group and its branch MRB Productions. She is also Media Consultant and Adviser on African Affairs with Africa International, an umbrella entity including the “Club Millennium” and MRB-Networks.com, an issues- and solutions-oriented TV channel focussing on Africa’s development, in partnership with 10 major West-African TV. Born in Cameroon, educated in Cote d’Ivoire, France and Austria, Marie-Roger Biloa graduated from the universities of Abidjan, La Sorbonne in Paris and Vienna (German Studies, Political Science and History). Ms. Biloa is also an alumni of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, where her name is on the Hall of Fame, and of the Harvard Kennedy School of Governance. She is a frequent TV guest ( TV5Monde, France24, Aljazeera, RFI, i-Télé, ARD, ZDF) to comment current news and African politics.
Participation
2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 2022 2023
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
Special Envoy for Strategic and International Affairs Nuclearelectrica. Ms. Birchall works particularly within the North American Energy and Security Partnership, as well as other strategic partnerships. With over 20 years of experience in law, foreign policy and international relations, she has a law degree from the University of Bucharest, a master’s degree and a doctorate in law from the prestigious Yale Law School, USA. She worked on Wall Street as a lawyer at one of the largest law firms in the world. Since 2003, Ms. Birchall has returned home with her family and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs team, promoting Romania’s interests of integration in NATO and EU membership. Subsequently, she decided to get involved in political life by holding the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Romania’s Strategic Partnerships, Minister of Justice, Minister Delegate for European Affairs, High Government Representative for US Relations and European Affairs, member of the Romanian Parliament, President of the Commission for European Affairs in the Chamber of Deputies, President of the Special Commission for the Presidency of Romania at the European Union Council, President of the Delegation of the Romanian Parliament to the OSCE.
Participation
2023
Senior Managing Director of Silian Partners who brings c.35 years of semiconductor experience. As Chief Executive Officer of Soitec from 2015 to 2022, he successfully led the company through a restructuring and positioned it as a global leader of engineered semiconductor materials. Prior to Soitec, he held senior positions in semiconductor equipment and manufacturing with KLA, STMicroelectronics, IBM Microelectronics, Motorola Semiconductor and Atmel.
Participation
2023
Senior Researcher Emeritus at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), attached to the French Research Institute on East Asia (IFRAE) of the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations. He is also Professor Emeritus at Hong Kong Baptist University. Prior to September 2021, he was Chair Professor of Political Science, Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University. He was Head of the Department from 2007 to 2018. He is also Associate Researcher at the Asia Centre, Paris and at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China in Hong Kong. Named Officer of the Palmes Académiques in 2018, he has been a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences d’outre-mer (ASOM) since 2019.His main research topics include political, institutional and legal reforms in People’s China, Chinese foreign and security policy, China-Taiwan relations, the Taiwanese political system and China-Africa relations. His most recent publications include La politique internationale de la Chine. Entre intégration et volonté de puissance (China’s International Policy. Between Integration and Will for Power), Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2010 (updated second edition published in 2015, third edition published in 2022).
Participation
2018 2022 2023
Head of International Public Affairs at Ardian since 2022. In this role, he also leads Ardian’s efforts in building relationships with development finance institutions and multilateral organizations. In addition, he contributes to the sourcing of joint ventures and partnerships for the international development of our portfolio companies. Previously, he worked as a diplomat for the French Foreign Office for over 15 years, specializing in the Middle East and multilateral organizations. Thierry has held various Embassy postings across the Middle East and served as the Chief of Staff and Spokesperson of the Ambassador of the French Mission to the United Nations in New York. He is based in Paris.
Participation
2023
Geopolitical Risk Manager, Senior Director at CDPQ, a global leading public pension fund manager. He is a political scientist and risk manager specializing in International Relations, Democratization process and geopolitical risk. He leads the team responsible of cross-sectoral and geopolitical risk. His team identifies, assesses and monitors the main financial and geopolitical risks for global portfolio and specific investments. The team is also responsible to produce qualitative risk measures, develop tools and fundamental portfolio analysis supporting discussions with portfolio managers and board members. In the recent years, his responsibilities led him to work on the improvement of the risk management processes, the implementation of a geopolitical strategy, and to coach global companies to better understand and manage geopolitical risks. Mr. Callonico also teaches political and geopolitical risk management at the University of Montreal and is also the author of the Geopolitical Awakening of Finance (2023).
Participation
2022 2023
Founder of Cercle Cyclope, Professor emeritus at Paris-Dauphine University, Consultant for various International Organisations (OECD, EEC, UNCTAD). He was a member of the Council of Economic Advisors in the Office of the French Prime Minister. He published around forty books including the latest Une brève histoire économique du XXème siècle, published in 2019. He has been the President of the French Observatory on formation of food products’ prices and margins since 2010. He graduated from HEC, he is “agrégé” in History and holds a Doctorate in Humanities.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2022 2023
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
CEO of DataCore Innovations LLC, specialized in “antifragile” investment strategies and member of the board of the Paris School of Economics. President of Club Praxis. He is the co-author of Capitalism against Inequalities (PUF, 2022). In 2018, he received, from the Académie des sciences morales et politiques, the Special Prize of the Political Economy, Statistics and Finance section for his book The government of citizens as well as for the work he has done at Club Praxis, a think tank that promotes the use of Big Data in policy making, in particular in revamping the tax and welfare system. Yann Coatanlem was also part of a Commission of economists appointed by the Académie des sciences morales et politiques, along with Olivier Blanchard and Thomas Philippon, to make recommendations on the teaching of Economics in High School. He graduated from ENSIMAG and HEC Paris. He is a recipient of the French National Order of Merit and of the Gold Medal of La Renaissance Française.
Participation
2022 2023
Professor and scholar focused on socio-political and socio-cultural analysis of conflict in Africa. Executive Director of ACG – Frontières d’Afrique. ACG, a pan-African consultancy organization, offers mediation to governments and organizations and works to raise awareness at regional and continental levels around all issues relating to human security, and conflict management, both transnational and cross-border, across Africa. Dr. Condé is a former minister of the Republic of Guinée, a former Mediator of the Republic and a former Member of Parliament. He worked as researcher with the distinguished Max-Planck Institute for Criminology and International Criminal Law in Freiburg im Breisgau/Germany, and later taught African crisis resolution at Columbia University in New York where he also founded the American Council on Africa. Having lived and worked in the United States, Europe (on both sides of the iron curtain during the cold war), and a number of African countries, Dr. Condé offers profound insight into the state of the world as it relates to African progress. In addition to speaking several African languages, Dr. Condé is fluent in French, English, German, Czech, Slovak and Polish.
Participation
2017 2018 2023
Head of Corporate Development at Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), a leading diversified natural resources group – present in 16 countries with around 80,000 people. With over 14 years of senior-level experience in general management, strategy, and M&A, Jonathan D. Cordero is a leading advisor in the metals and mining industry. At ERG, he is responsible for global ventures development, strategy, and M&A, with a special focus on the group’s MENA growth platform. Mr Cordero is also an investor and mentor in the ResourceTech space, and co-founder and partner at Caesar Ventures, a seed-stage investment firm supporting entrepreneurs in the fields of clean energy, circular economy, and digital transformation. He has served as a board member at various companies and holds a Master of Science in Management from HHL- Leipzig Graduate School of Management.
Participation
2022 2023
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
Executive Vice President of Capgemini. He has been Managing director in charge of global industry sectors within Capgemini (consumer products, retail, utilities, tax and welfare, public security, telecommunications, financial services and manufacturing). The transformation of corporations and governments is at the heart of this role. He started his career at the ‘Inspection Generale des Finances’ (French Treasury) and joined Capgemini in 1989. He holds a diploma of the ‘Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and of the ‘Ecole Nationale d’Administration’.
Participation
2013 2017 2018 2019 2022 2023
Director of the Center for Cyber-Physical System at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, and Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science, Università degli Studi di Milano, where he leads the SESAR research lab, and President of the National Interuniversity Consortium for Computer Science. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cyber-physical systems, secure service-oriented architectures, privacy-preserving big data analytics and cyber-physical systems security. He holds/has held visiting positions at a number of international institutions, including in the US, Japan, Australia and France. He is a Fellow of the Japanese Society for the Progress of Science. He has been Principal Investigator in a number of large-scale research projects funded by the European Commission, the Italian Ministry of Research and by private companies. He serves in the editorial board of several international journals. Ernesto Damiani is an ACM Distinguished Scientist and a Senior Member of the IEEE. He received the IEEE IES Chester-Sall Award in 2007, the IEEE ICWS/Service Society Stephen S. Yau Award and the IEEE TCHS Research and Innovation Award.
Participation
2023
Advisor to the Executive Chairman, Ifri, Editor of Politique étrangère and co-director of the annual report Ramses. He is also President of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and of le Club des Vingt . Former Executive Vice-President of Ifri. Previously, he was in charge of the Security Studies department at Ifri. Before joining Ifri, he was Deputy Director of the Institut français de polémologie (French Institute of Polemology), and then Secretary General of the FEDN (Fondation pour les études de défense nationale). He also taught at the Military School of Saint-Cyr, at the Paris I University and at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (IEP). His studies and publications deal with strategic issues, particularly with French strategy and European issues.
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2019 2022 2023
Ambassador of Mexico to the United Arab Emirates. He is a career diplomat. After entering the Mexican Foreign Service, he rose to the rank of Ambassador. He previously served as: Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for the 2019 Climate Change Summit. Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Organization of the American States; to Austria, concurrent to Slovenia and Slovakia and to International Organizations based in Vienna; to the United Nations in New York; and to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations based in Geneva. He was also Special Representative for Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alternate Representative of Mexico to the United Nations Organization in New York, and Director General for the United Nations System for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has held elected positions as: President of the 24th Session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, First President of the Human Rights Council, President of the Council of the International Organization for Migration and President of the Commission on Disarmament and International Security (First Commission) during the 59th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Participation
2023
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United Arab Emirates, since August 2022. Previously, he has been Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium to the People’s Republic of China, and to Mongolia (2019 – 2022). From 2016 to 2019, he worked at the Directorate General for European Affairs (Brussels, Belgium); Horizontal EU external policy coordination, focal point for Belgium (European Correspondent 2017-2019); Coordinator for the Middle East and Northern Africa Regions (2016-2017); Belgian Senior Official for the Union for the Mediterranean, Belgian Coordinator for the relations between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council, and between the EU and the League of Arab States. From 2012 to 2016, he was Head of the Economic Department, Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Republic of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and The Maldives. From 2009 to 2012, he worked as Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium to Lebanon. Previously, he was Attorney at Law in Belgium (1999 – 2008).
Participation
2022 2023
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
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
Executive Director of the Global Gas Centre based in Geneva/Switzerland (GGC). The GGC is an association bringing together leading stakeholders of the gas industry and was founded by major gas companies in December 2014. The GGC program consists mainly of meetings and roundtables organized by the GGC, sometimes in collaboration with one of their members or partners. Among the latter are the United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Bingmann Pflüger International (BPI), the International Society for Energy Transition Studies (ISETS), and Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. (EPRINC). Valérie Ducrot advises the United Nations on energy and gas issues, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Previously Valérie Ducrot was the Manager of the UNECE (the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Gas Centre from 2009-2014. Before she has occupied several positions in the French energy company named today ENGIE. During the last 27 years she has gained large experience in the gas sector at a worldwide level.
Participation
2022 2023
Managing Director of UAE-based Big Picture Strategy LLC. It is a consultancy that specializes in communication and marketing services for clients in the energy, climate and natural resources sectors. Moreover, he is a Principal at Strategic Minds Company, a founding company of the Berlin Advisors Group (BAG), where he heads its energy, infrastructure and commodities operations and has for over a decade provided strategic advice to a wide range of clients across multiple industries and functions. These include national governments, EU institutions, public and private corporations, infrastructure operators, SPVs, as well as national and international organizations.
Participation
2022 2023
Former President of Mongolia. He is a public servant, a freedom fighter, and a policymaker. In 1990, he was one of the key leaders of the Mongolian Democratic Revolution and since then has continuously served Mongolia as a member of Parliament four times, Prime Minister two times, and President for two terms. During his career, Mr. Elbegdorj prioritized strengthening the rule of law in Mongolia, fostering social justice, fighting poverty, combating corruption, supporting environmental sustainability, and advancing active participatory democracy. Currently, he is continuing his work to improve public policy, governance, and democracy through the Elbegdorj Institute, a think tank he found in 2008. Mr. Elbegdorj is now Commissioner of the International Commission against Death Penalty (ICDP), Patron of the World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF), member of World Leadership Alliance – Club de Madrid and President of the World Mongol Federation. He holds Master of Public Administration from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government (2002) and Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Land Forces Military Academy of Lviv City (Ukraine) of former USSR (1988).
Participation
2017 2018 2022 2023
Attorney at Law, CEO of Echo for Peace Foundation and of Rased Lebanon (coalition of several NPO’s), member of Beirut Bar Association. She is a Founder and member of many NGOs and nonprofit associations. She is a Legal Consultant to many associations and civic organizations. She is also a journalist for Tele Lumiere and Noursat International TV, presenting social, political, and religious issues through talk shows. She conducted live interviews of well-known personalities in order to find solutions to national issues. She was delegated as “Lawyer and Journalist” to attend hearings in the Special Tribunal of Lebanon in The Hague, Netherlands (STL). She participated in several conferences and seminars in Lebanon and abroad, treating: Politic-Justice-Peace-Religion-Interfaith Dialogue-Globalization-Civil State, etc. She is a legal and social writer in many newspapers and reviews. She has a JD in Criminal Law from Lebanese University.
Participation
2022 2023
Founder and Executive Chairman of Kreab Worldwide and Kunskapsskolan Education. He is a Board member of the Nobel Prize Outreach since 2011 and is a Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, IVA. He was Chef de Cabinet of ICC, the world business organization (1973-1981) and Chairman of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (2010–2014). Recipient of the King of Sweden’s Medal of the Twelfth Dimension in Blue Ribbon for achievements as business leader and entrepreneur. He has a BA from the University of Stockholm and is a graduate of the Owner/President Management Program from Harvard Business School.
Participation
2019 2023
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
President of the Constitutional Council, President of the COP 21. He played a crucial role in the negotiations and success of the Paris Climate Agreement, the first universal agreement to fight against climate change. Member of the Conseil d’État, he occupied several governmental positions in France: Minister for the Budget (1981-1983), Minister of Industry and Research (1983-1984), Prime Minister (1984-1986), Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry (2000-2002), Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development (2012-2016). He was also member of Parliament from 1978 to 2012, and served twice as President of the French National Assembly, from 1988 to 1992, and again from 1997 to 2000. He is a former student of the École normale supérieure of the Rue d’Ulm, holder of an Agrégation higher degree in French Language and Literature and a former student of the École nationale d’administration.
Participation
2013 2018 2019 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
CEO of BWI. A graduate of HEC Paris, Mr. Fain’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2007 when he co-founded Verteego, a pioneering force in the artificial intelligence and impact startup realms, known for its early entry into the software-as-a-service sustainability market. In 2018, he assumed the role of CEO at Welcomr, a prominent building access control SaaS vendor. Driven by a passion for technology-driven impact, he joined BWI as CEO in 2022. BWI, or Blue Water Intelligence, leverages satellite data and machine learning to deliver advanced hydrological forecasts, with the vision of empowering basin digitization through the deployment of virtual stations, offering critical continental freshwater data and insights anytime, anywhere. Mr. Fain’s journey embodies a commitment to leveraging technology for sustainable, impactful solutions, shaping the software industry’s future and driving global change.
Participation
2023
Director of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) and Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business since October 2021. After working as an Associate Consultant with McKinsey & Co, Vienna from 2004 to 2005, he held various teaching positions from 2005 to 2009 at the University of Tübingen and at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. From 2010 to 2019, he led the ifo Center for International Economics at the University of Munich. From 2019 to September 2021 he was President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. His research and advisory activities focus on questions of economic global governance, European economic integration, and German economic policy. He has published a large number of papers in international scientific journals, in policy briefs, and newspapers. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
Participation
2019 2022 2023
Director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva. Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva. In 2019, he was elected as Co-Director of the Swiss School of Public Health in Zürich. He previously served as Founding Director of the French School of Public Health, Co-Director of the European Academic Global Health Alliance, and President of the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation. He has conducted his research in mathematical modelling of communicable diseases and he has chaired the WHO collaborative centre for electronic disease surveillance. He is member of the Académie suisse des sciences médicales and corresponding member at the Académie nationale de médecine in Paris. MD, and Ph.D. in Biomathematics.
Participation
2020 2022 2023
Member of the Center for Higher European Studies (National Institute for Public Service, former ENA). He is, among other things, Senior Advisor to the Compagnie Jacques Coeur (since 2013). He was French Ambassador to Latvia (2002-2006), after having served as an Advisor to the French Foreign Minister (1997-2002), Special Envoy to the Balkans and the Caucasus (1999). He also served as Director of the policy planning staff of the French Foreign Ministry (1999-2002). From 2010 to 2013, he was Director of Studies and Research of the Institute of Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN).
Participation
2008 2014 2015 2016 2017 2019 2022 2023
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
Silian Partner, former Management Board member of Infineon. He contributes c.30 years of semiconductor industry experience. He was Chief Marketing Officer from 2016 to 2022 with responsibilities encompassing marketing, sales, strategy and M&A. In this capacity, he led the €9bn acquisition and integration of Cypress Semiconductor and contributed to transform Infineon into a global top 10 semiconductor company. Prior to joining Infineon in 1995 as a semiconductor design engineer, he worked in semiconductor research at Fraunhofer Institute.
Participation
2023
Vice Chairman of the WPC. He manages the organisation of the annual conference since its first edition in 2008. He is also chairman and founder of Alandia, a restructuring advisory firm which helped various States or Sovereign funds to regain control over their industrial investments (Middle East, Africa and West Asia). Former Vice chairman of the Franco Indian chamber of commerce, he was more especially in charge of agricultural investments. He seats, or seated, at several Advisory Boards such as British Telecom or PWC. He published a book on globalization in June 2010: Mondialisation, un autre regard and one on restructuring issues in France (2015).
Participation
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2022 2023
Co-Founder and President of Sylvera, a leading carbon data provider. Prior to co-founding Sylvera, Mr. Gill was a corporate lawyer. Most recently, he worked at Baker McKenzie focusing on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) products, where he gained exposure to the carbon markets’ issues and opportunities. He began his legal career as an investment funds Associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He holds a Bachelor’s of Law from Cardiff University.
Participation
2023
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
Ambassador of the Republic of Guatemala to the UAE. Concurrent Ambassador to Kingdom of Barhain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and State of Kuwait. He previously served as Ambassador of the Republic of Guatemala to the Republic of China (Taiwan). He has been decorated with the Order of the Brilliant Star in degree of Grand Cordon by the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). He served as Academic Rector and Dean of the Leadership School at the Universidad San Pablo de Guatemala. He was a member of the Group of advisors for the National Council of Science and Technology (CONCYT). In an Ad Honorem manner, he served as a Vice President of Guatemala Prospera, an organization that seeks the development of Guatemalan children and youth, and the formation of principle and values in organizations of the country. He was a Consultant for USAID in Educational Technology for projects oriented to develop professions in young people from marginal regions of Guatemala.
Participation
2023
Ambassador. François Gouyette has served as Ambassador of France from 2001 to 2023 in five arab countries: UAE, Libya, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Algeria. He was previously DCM in Syria and Turkey. He has also been Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister of Interior and Ambassador in charge of the EUROMed process in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is graduated in Law from the Paris University and in Arabic from the Oriental School in Paris.
Participation
2023
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
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
Special Advisor and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canon Institute for Global Studies, a research think tank in Tokyo. Mr. Horii is also a member of several non-profit entities, e.g., Japan Association of Corporate Executives; the Trilateral Commission. Akinari Horii was a Central Banker until he stepped down as Assistant Governor of the Bank of Japan in 2010. He received his MBA with distinction, and as a Beta Gamma Sigma, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his BA in Economics from the University of Tokyo.
Participation
2015 2017 2019 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
Co-Founder and Board member of MFEX Mutual Funds Exchange, a global B2B fund distribution platform present in 63 countries, now a fully-owned subsidiary of the Euroclear group. Following his diplomatic service in Eastern Europe, Mr. Huby worked with the Paribas group in Asset Management, then at AXA as Chief Investment Officer of Axa Investment Managers. He graduated from the École nationale des ponts et chaussées in Paris and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is actively involved as an investor and advisor with startups and growth companies in the areas of engineering with a focus on climate change, finance and logistics. He is a member of the French and Russian Geographic Societies, as well as the Royal Geographical Society. He is also actively contributing to the organization of cultural events, in particular for classical music and ballet and the sponsoring of young artists in Europe and in Russia.
Participation
2023
Founder and CEO of Concerto. He is an entrepreneur, specialist in strategic communication and public affairs, and has over 15 years of consulting experience at the highest level of Government, and with international organizations. Prior to founding Concerto in 2016, Mr. Hurstel worked for the United Nations and Hopscotch, where he helped set up Hopscotch Africa, as well as GL events, where he was responsible for overseeing activities in Africa. In addition to supervising the firm’s management and development, he advises Concerto’s clients such as Heads of State, national, regional and continental institutions, corporates and public figures.
Participation
2023
Director of the Center for Post-Industrial Studies in Moscow, Special Advisor to MEMRI’s Russia Media Studies Project in Washington, DC. Dr. Inozemtsev is a Russian economist and political scientist, focusing on global economic issues, development of the knowledge economy in the West and modernization of the Third World nations, with special reference to Russia’s history and current policies. He founded the Center for Post-Industrial Studies in Moscow and has been its Director ever since, combining this activity with teaching at Moscow State University and the Higher School of Economics and numerous fellowships held in the US (Johns Hopkins University and CSIS) and Europe (DGAP in Berlin, Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna and Warsaw Institute of Advanced Studies, among many others). Dr. Inozemtsev served as an Advisor to the Commission on Modernization of the Russian Economy under President Dmitry Medvedev in 2009-2011, as the Chief Aide to Mikhail Prokhorov’s presidential bid in 2012, and as a member of Russia’s ‘Open Government’ in 2013-2014. He left Russia after the start of the war with Ukraine in 2014 and lives in Washington. Dr. Inozemtsev has authored more than 20 books and is a Columnist for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, NRC Han-delsblad, The Independent, Gazeta Wyborcza and La Razon.
Participation
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
Senior Associate of Ifri, Professor of Economics at Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Paris), where he holds the chaire Jean-Baptiste Say d’économie industrielle. He is also a member of France’s Council of Economic Advisers (Conseil d’analyse économique) and National Productivity Council (CNP), a Research Associate with CEPII, a Policy Associate with GEP (University of Nottingham, UK), and a fellow of CESifo Research Network (Munich, Germany). He has previously been Director of CEPII, the French leading centre for research and expertise in international economics, from 2012 to 2021, after holding positions at INRAE and OECD. His research and policy works mainly deal with the applied economic analysis of globalization, with special emphasis on international trade, trade policies, and international economic policy. He has taught in various institutions. He graduated from the École centrale de Paris and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University of Paris-1.
Participation
2023
Founder and CEO of International Business Strategies (IBS). For over 33 years, IBS has been focused on key activities in global electronics industry that impact semiconductor ecosystem. As CEO of IBS, Dr. Jones interfaces with most global leaders in electronics industry, with customers in U.S., Europe, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, India, and others. IBS delivers projects market trends to 2030. Dr. Handel Jones has published four books on China regarding key factors in electronics and semiconductor industries. His latest book is called When AI Rules the World: China, the U.S., and the Race to Control a Smart Planet.
Participation
2023
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
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
Professor Emeritus of the Chair of Economics and Management of Health Services at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM) and Founder of the Pasteur/CNAM School of Public Health. He is a member of the National Academy of Technologies of France and a member of the steering committee of the Médecins du monde Foundation. Former Consultant to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, he served as Visiting Professor at Yale University, Under Secretary at the French Ministry of Health in charge of hospitals and Advisor to the Prime Minister. He is a Columnist for Le Point.fr. He holds a Master in Agronomy from the Institut national agronomique Paris-Grignon, a MBA and a Ph.D. in Socio Economics from Cornell University.
Participation
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2022 2023
Vice Chairman & CEO of the Federation of Korean Industries. Prior to joining the FKI, he served as Global Advisor for Hyundai Motor Group. He served as Korean Ambassador to Indonesia. He also worked in Brussels as Korean Ambassador to the European Union and Belgium. Amb. Kim has special ties and experiences with EU affairs, ASEAN and Indonesia, in particular. During his career, he made significant contributions to the promotion of Korea’s partnership with the EU and ASEAN through summit meeting preparations and substantial progresses in trade, investment, and people–to–people exchanges. He has worked together with the Indonesian Government in reaching a final conclusion of Indonesia – Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IK CEPA). As a career foreign service officer, he has served five overseas posts (US, Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, EU/Belgium) and worked at various positions within the Korean Government ever since he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. He has worked for President Lee Myung-bak as Chief of Presidential Protocol at the office of the President. He earned a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC, USA and is a distinguished graduate of Seoul National University.
Participation
2023
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
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
Chief Rabbi of France since June 22nd, 2014. On December 15th, 2014 he was elected as a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He worked closely with the Chief Rabbis of France, Joseph Sitruk and Gilles Bernheim. He was a member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee (2005-2009), General Jewish Chaplain of the Army and the Polytechnic School and Director of the General Chaplain of the Air Force. He also served as General Secretary of the Association of French Rabbis (1999-2010). He graduated from the Jewish Seminary of France (SIF), and obtained an MBA from the Reims Management School, a DEA from the École pratique des hautes études (Sorbonne) and a Ph.D. in Contemporary History of the University of Poitiers, as well as a Ph.D. in Management Science from the University Paris-Saclay. He is the author of several books. The last one being, Réinventer les aurores, un plaidoyer pour la République, published in February 2020 by Fayard.
Credit of the photo: David Morganti
Participation
2015 2017 2022 2023
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. Throughout his professional journey, he served as Assistant to the Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, then assumed the role of Head of the First Deputy Prime Minister’s Office of the Republic of Armenia. Continuing in the political arena, Mr. Kostanyan became the Spokesperson of the “Civil Contract” Party and subsequently served as Assistant to the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, followed by the position of Adviser to the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. In 2021, he ventured into diplomacy, taking on the roles of Assistant and later Adviser to the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Notably, in 2023, Mr. Kostanyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs by the decision of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Mr. Kostanyan pursued his studies in Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University. His academic pursuits include a Public Administration course at the University of Massachusetts (USA) in 2012, courses in Conflictology and Human Rights of the Council of Europe from 2012 to 2017, and an Iranian Studies Course at Payame Noor University (Tehran) in 2018.
Participation
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
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In 2003, Mr. Kuleba graduated with honour from the Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko University (Kyiv, Ukraine), where he studied international law. In 2006, Mr. Kuleba obtained a Ph.D. in Law. From 2003 to 2010, he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the OSCE. He also worked at the office of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2013 where he was in charge of the issues related to the image of Ukraine abroad, international organizations, and the relations with the United States. After quitting civil service in 2013, he chaired the Board of the UART Foundation for Cultural Diplomacy. In 2014, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Ambassador-at-Large to launch strategic communications. He introduced the concepts of digital diplomacy, strategic communications, cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy into the Ministry’s work. In 2016, Mr. Kuleba was appointed as Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe. From August 2019 to March 2020, he was Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine. He is author of the book The War for Reality. How to Win in the World of Fakes, Truths and Communities, 2019.
Participation
2022 2023
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
Global Leader for the Global Advantage practice, Managing Director and Senior Partner of Boston Consulting Group’s Munich office. He supports clients on an array of globalization related topics: global trade, localization, international joint ventures, and digital ecosystems. Nikolaus Lang lived in Asia for ten years, and has worked in most of the world’s emerging markets. As a global expert in connectivity, autonomous mobility, car sharing, and fleet management, he is a Founder and Director of BCG’s Center for Mobility Innovation, a team of urban mobility experts and digital business builders. This team advises cities, public transportation operators, and mobility and automotive companies around the globe on innovative and state of the art mobility solutions. He has authored a number of publications and holds a Ph.D. and a Master in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen.
Participation
2022 2023
Head of business development and commercialization of Carbfix, a knowledge-based company offering consultancy and service in the field of capturing CO2. Mr. Lárusson holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and a BSc degree in business management and international business from the University of South Carolina Columbia. He has a vast global business background, including extensive experience in finance and business development. Mr. Lárusson has served as a board member for several IT and financial companies both in Iceland and abroad after having been the CEO of On-Waves (maritime mobile network communications) between 2013 and 2020 (Reykjavik, Rotterdam, Copenhagen). Prior to that Mr. Lárusson headed Síminn Telecommunications business development since the privatization of the company in 2005 (London, Reykjavik, and Copenhagen) and worked in the banking industry for both Kaupthing bank and Reykjavik Savings Bank in corporate, investment banking as well as asset management from 1996.
Participation
2023
Diplomatic Correspondent of Le Figaro. Previously, she has been Defense Correspondent, Correspondent in Russia and War Reporter (Bosnia, Chechya, Kosovo, Irak, Afghanistan…) for the same newspaper. She also works for Politique Internationale, the main European review dedicated to foreign affairs in French. Her last book, Macron –Putin, the dangerous relationship (L’Observatoire), was published last april.
Participation
2023
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
Engineer from the Corps des mines, and Head of the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Regional Economic Service, and Economic Representative to the Regional Prefect. She has worked in various organizations, companies and think tanks in Europe (Germany, UK), Southeast Asia (Singapore) and New Caledonia, on energy, industrial, resources and digital issues. She also took part in the World Material Forum as Below 25. As part of her studies, she wrote a report for the French Ministry of Economy and Finance in 2023 about the French reindustrialization.
Participation
2023
Former Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China, Hong Kong Basic Law expert, and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. In the transition from 1984 to 1997, Mr. Leung was Secretary General of the Basic Law Consultative Committee and held many other senior positions related to the establishment of the HKSAR throughout this period. Since 1997, he served as a member and then the Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. In 2017 he founded the Belt and Road Hong Kong Centre and the Greater Bay Area Centre. Mr. Leung was also instrumental in the land and housing reforms and the establishment of the real estate market in China.
Participation
2018 2019 2023
Founder and President of the Louis Bachelier Institute. Member of the Board of Ifri, affiliate Emeritus Professor in Finance at Paris-Dauphine University, Non-Executive Chairman of Les Échos, Chairman and Founder of the Fondation du Risque and Institut Louis Bachelier. He held various positions in the Schlumberger Group and he was CEO of Banque Paribas until the merger creating BNPParibas. He started as a Research Physicist at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). He graduated from the École Polytechnique and holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Participation
2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2022 2023
Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute, at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Previously, he served as First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 2006 to 2011, and was Acting Managing Director during May-July 2011. Formerly Vice Chairman of the JPMorgan Investment Bank and JPMorgan’s Chief Economist, he also was Chief Economist of Salomon Brothers, Inc. from 1992 to 1997. He currently serves as the Chair of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and as the Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute’s Program on the World Economy. He also serves as the Vice Chair of the Bretton Woods Committee, and of the Center for Global Development. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), a Director of the American Council on Germany and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.
Participation
2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2019 2022 2023
Head of Global Market Commodities at Natixis, a company he joined in 2018. He has over twenty years of experience in the oil and energy derivative trading markets. He started his career in 1996 at Elf Trading (now Totalfina Elf) in Geneva as a junior oil trader. In 1998, he joined TFS in London, then moved to Crown Commodities the following year. In 2000, he joined BP, spending seven years with the firm in London and Chicago, establishing and running their worldwide oil options proprietary trading business and serving as Global Head of the oil derivatives trading and marketing teams. In 2007, he joined Morgan Stanley as a senior options trader in the oil derivatives trading desk. In 2009, he joined the Trafigura Group in Geneva, establishing and managing its energy trading fund. In 2013, he moved to Gunvor, also in Geneva, developing the firm’s proprietary options trading activity.
Participation
2023
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
Journalist and TV news anchor. Terry Martin is a Berlin-based broadcaster with decades of experience in international news. Formerly an anchor with CNN International, he is now Senior Anchor with DW News, Germany’s global service. He is also the Founder and Director of the research communications agency SPIA. As a television correspondent, he has provided live coverage from G7 summits, UN climate conferences, and multiple national elections. He has hosted scores of tv discussion programs and interviewed countless political and business leaders, scientists, and activists around the world. Frequently in demand as an event moderator, he has moderated major conferences for public and private-sector clients in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He is a regular host at GLOBSEC’s Bratislava Forum, The Warsaw Security Forum, and the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul. For several years, he served as Contributing Editor and Germany Correspondent for Europe Magazine and wrote a bimonthly newsletter on foreign investment. In 2010, he wrote the European Commission’s widely used guidebook “Communicating research for evidence-based policymaking”. Born in Canada, he studied English and philosophy at universities in the US (B.A. Elon College, Masters studies Wake Forest University) before moving to Germany shortly after the fall of The Berlin Wall.
Participation
2023
Ambassador of Switzerland to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Arthur Mattli graduated with a degree in law from the University of Fribourg. After assignments as Delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jerusalem, Damascus, Riyadh and Dubrovnik, an assistantship at the University of Fribourg and a research residency in New York, he joined the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. After an internship with the Political Affairs Division I in Bern and the Swiss Mission to the European Community in Brussels, he was leading the Economic and Trade Section of the Swiss Embassy in Beijing. He was later appointed Head of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Section of the Directorate of International Law in Berne. He served as Deputy Head of mission of the Swiss Embassy in Nairobi and in New Delhi. Ambassador Mattli was Head of Division for Europe, Central Asia, Council of Europe and OSCE at the Directorate of Political Affairs in Bern. He was Head of Mission in Dar es Salaam, where he represented Switzerland at the East African Community and in Zambia. Ambassador Mattli is now serving as Head of Mission of the Swiss Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Participation
2023
Vice President of Advanced Concepts for Airbus Defence and Space in Munich, Germany. Before joining Airbus in 2004, he has worked for 12 years as a self-employed security policy Analyst and Consultant in Bonn, Germany. He conducted some 30 studies for the German Ministry of Defense and was a frequent TV and radio commentator, publisher, and lecturer. He is an Honorary Professor for Foreign Policy at the University of Cologne, Germany. He began his professional career in 1986 as a Research Associate at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Foundation for Science and Politics). From 1990 to 1992, he served on the Policy Planning Staff of the German Minister of Defense and from 1992 to 2004 as the Security Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Defense Committee of the German Parliament.
Participation
2017 2018 2019 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
Executive Vice president of World Wide Strategic Partnerships at IMEC and a member of IMEC Executive Board. Mr. Mirgoli has over 33 years of experience in the high tech and semiconductor industry and has held numerous leadership and executive roles in some of the most innovative companies in the world. In addition to his role at IMEC, he serves as investor and advisor and board member in many successful start ups. Prior to Joining IMEC, Mr. Mirgoli was C.O.O and Managing Director of ICOS Vision Systems (NASDAQ IVIS) a highly successful start up from Belgium that was taken public and acquired by KLA TENCOR (NASDAQ KLAC) in 2009 where he held several executive leaderships role after the sale. Prior to ICOS Vision Systems, Mr. Mirgoli was the corporate Sr.Vice president and Global GM of Automation group of Panasonic where he managed a P&L of over 1 billion dollars globally for Panasonic reporting directly to the president and CEO of Panasonic Americas. Mr. Mirgoli holds an MBA from College of Notre Dame and an Electrical Engineering degree in Robotics from University of California and a Linguistics degree from University of Madrid.
Participation
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
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
Global Co-Head of Commodities Market Natixis. Mr. Mourre has over 35 years’ banking experience, primarily with Morgan Stanley, where he was latterly Managing Director, Vice Chairman of the Commodities Division and Chairman of the firm’s African business. He also co-founded the bank’s oil trading activities in London, established its energy trading activity in Asia, and set up its Singapore office for commodities. Before joining the finance industry, he worked three years for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Cultural Attaché in Hong Kong, and then at Elf Aquitaine (now Total) for over four years as a crude oil trader. He joined Natixis as a Senior Adviser, was then appointed Global Head of Global Markets Commodities and became Co Head of Commodities Markets. He holds a Master of Science degree in business administration from Sup. de co., a D.E.A in business administration from ESSEC/ IAE and a D.E.S.S in international trade and transportation from Aix Marseille University. He did research and taught international finance at HEC for four years. He is Trustee of the Trust of the Friends of the French Institute in London, Chairman of the Crown Estate Paving Commission, Regents Park, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.
Participation
2015 2016 2018 2019 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
Former President of International Public Affairs and Sustainability at UPS. An experienced global leader, Mrs. Naas leads teams in the development and execution of strategies in complex, regulated environments. In her previous role, she led efforts to advance strategies for UPS and its customers on issues including climate change, cross-border trade, and digitalization. She began her UPS career joining as the Head of Public Affairs in the then-EMEA Region. Prior to joining UPS, she worked for Citigroup in the Global Government Affairs team. She opened Citigroup’s first government affairs office in Brussels, where she advanced legislative and regulatory strategies on issues that arose after the 2008 Financial Crisis. She started her career at the US Department of Commerce, where she worked for 13 years in various roles covering global commercial issues. Her final role was to lead the office of Europe, where she oversaw US-European commercial issues. She is an experienced Director on various not-for-profit Board of Directors. Mrs. Naas has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is a US and Belgian citizen.
Participation
2023
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
Chair of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (Integrity Council), an independent governance body for the voluntary carbon market. Ms. Nazareth has devoted significant attention to virtually all aspects of the body’s workstreams, and represents the Integrity Council in venues across the globe. She has decades of experience in financial services regulation and corporate governance. She currently serves as Senior Counsel at the global law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, having previously served as a Partner of the firm and the Head of the Washington DC office. She also led the firm’s Trading and Markets practice within the Financial Institutions Group. She was a key player in US financial services regulation for nearly a decade, most notably as a Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and as the SEC’s Director of the Division of Trading and Markets. She is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Law School.
Participation
2023
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
French Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates since December 2022. Mr. Nicolas Niemtchinow studied at École Nationale d’Administration (ENA), École Normale Supérieure (ENS), and Sciences Po Paris (IEP, Paris), BA and MA in History. He joined the Foreign Service in 1995. He holds the rank of Minister plenipotentiary. He was first desk officer for NATO and European Defense in the Strategic Affairs Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1995-1998). He was posted to the French Embassy in Moscow, as first Secretary, then to the French Embassy in Amman, as Deputy Head of Mission. He was subsequently appointed as Deputy Director of Strategic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-2009). He then served as the diplomatic adviser to the Minister of Defense (2010-2011) and Deputy Director of the State Minister’s private office at the Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs (2011-2012). He was appointed Ambassador, permanent representative of France to the United Nations’ Office in Geneva and to the international organizations in Switzerland (2012-2015) then Deputy General Director to the International Labour Organization (ILO, UN-Geneva) from 2015 to 2017. From October 2017 to November 2022, he served as Strategy Director at Ministry of Defense.
Participation
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
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of LATC Group – a proprietary investment firm with interests in marine logistics, retail, agriculture & manufacturing. He has vast experience in global logistics and commercial aviation having led commercial operations within the Air France/KLM & Kenya Airways group at senior levels in Africa, Europe & USA. Sam holds a BA in History & International Relations and is an alumnus of the executive management program of Columbia Business School. In addition to a number board positions, Sam is a member of the global advisory board of the Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council (CWEIC) in London and is a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Besides English, Sam is fluent in French and has conversational knowledge of Spanish & Portuguese.
Participation
2022 2023
Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He previously served as Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Chase International (2006-2008) and was an unofficial US representative to Taiwan as Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (2002-2006). He was on the National Security Council staff of Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush between 1986 and 1993, as Director of Asian Affairs and then as Senior Director and Special Assistant to the President. Paal held positions in the policy planning staff at the State Department, as a Senior Analyst for the CIA, and at US embassies in Singapore and Beijing. He has spoken and published frequently on Asian affairs and national security issues.
Participation
2016 2017 2018 2019 2022 2023
Executive Vice President of PlanTFarm, a leading indoor vertical farm company. He has 30+ years of experiences in brand strategies, global marketing management, and product innovation, with sector-specific expertise in both IT and food industries. Previously, he served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Coway, and before that as the Vice President of Global Marketing at Samsung Electronics. As the Head of Product Planning and Management, he led the global refrigerator business at Samsung Electronics. He also served as the Head of Product Strategy & Innovations at Bowers&Wilkins and the Vice President at General Mills. Other prior experiences in food sector, incl. Kellogg’s, and IT sector, incl. Motorola. Mr. Park received a M.A. in Marketing from University of Alabama and BBA from Korea University.
Participation
2023
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
Director at the European Cluster for Climate, Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS), University of Bonn. He is Founding Partner of Strategic Minds Company GmbH. He has previously served as press secretary to former German President Richard von Weizsäcker. He was also a member of the Bundestag (1990-2006), Chairman of the Bundestag Committee on the Affairs of the European Union (1998-2004) and Deputy Minister of Defense in the first Merkel Government (2005-2006). He is also Chairman of the Internet Economy Foundation (IE.F) and (non-resident) Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Energy and Environment Program.
Participation
2011 2017 2022 2023
Co-founder and CEO of TiLT Capital Partners, an asset management company dedicated to energy transition, with a first fund that first closed in April 2022 and focused on growth capital for European SMEs of the sector. TiLT reached its goal of €250m in AuM for its first fund and targets its hard cap of €300m by end 2023. Up until 2018, Nicolas was SVP in charge of M&A and Corporate Development for Engie, a Paris based energy company employing then over 150 000 people across 70 countries. He’s been working in the field of energy and project development / M&A for the last 18 years, after 5 years in HR working on social sustainability. He is also a First Mover Fellow of the Aspen Institute. Currently based in Paris, Nicolas lived in Brussels and Rome and spent a lot of time on transactions in the US, China, Russia, South-East Asia and South America. Sustainability and ethics have been at the core of his motivation, fueled by his graduation in Philosophy and Political Sciences and translated into a PhD in Economics on this topic, earned magna cum laude from Paris-Dauphine university.
Participation
2022 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
Deputy Director General and Scientific Director of the French Geological Survey BRGM, he is currently in charge of defining and implementing the overall scientific strategy of BRGM in the field of water and global warming, critical raw materials and circular economy, natural and technological risks, the development of geological knowledge and associated numerical data and services. After launching the PROMETIA international association in 2015, he was involved in 2021 in the preparation of the Varin’s report to the French government and coordinated in 2022 the preparation and launching of OFREMI, the French observatory in charge of monitoring the CRM value chains. He is also for 2023 and 2024 the Elected president of EuroGeoSurveys, the association of the European National Geological Surveys. He previously worked in the French Atomic and Alternative Energy Commission (CEA) where he occupied several management positions in the field of R&D. He was the Nuclear Counsellor at the French Embassy in China (Beijing) and the CEA representative in this country. An internationally-recognized expert in nuclear chemistry, he authored more than 60 papers in international journals (H>26) and >120 oral presentations in international conferences. He is decorated as Officer of the Palmes Académiques since 2017.
Participation
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
Founder and Managing Director of Camelot Trust Pte Ltd. Her focus is on family wealth and businesses. She supports her clients on family governance, sustainability of business and wealth objectives in terms of risk management and succession planning to ensure smooth transition of leadership in business and wealth transference.
Participation
2014 2015 2016 2019 2022 2023
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
Visiting Scholar and Luksic Fellow at Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies in Cambridge, MA, and a Senior Advisor at BCG focusing on foreign investment, international trade, geopolitics and economic development. He was CEO of InvestChile. His experience also includes acting as senior international consultant on nearshoring at the Inter-American Development Bank, and as Head of international trade and investment policy at the World Economic Forum, where he spearheaded Davos’ engagements on FDI and represented WEF before the B20, OECD, APEC, UNCTAD and other international organizations. Prior to that, he served as trade and environment lead negotiator and investment negotiator at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, where he also negotiated other international agreements on investment, services, air transport and climate change including at the UNFCCC COPs. He currently serves on several boards including at the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO), Start-Up Chile, and the global Climate Governance Initiative (CGI).
Participation
2023
Former United Nations Secretary General’s, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative to the Palestinian authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), at the rank of Under-Secretary-General (1994 – 1996 / 1999 – 2005), Terje Roed-Larsen graduated in Philosophy, History, and Sociology in the University of Oslo in 1976. He began his career as a Research assistant at the Institute for Sociology of Law of the University of Oslo (1973 – 1978), as a British Academy Wolfson Fellow, at the London School of Economics (LSE), then as Assistant professor at the Institute for Sociology of the Universities of Oslo, and of Bergen. He was Advisor to the Minister for Planning in the Government of Norway and Minister for Administration (1980), and at Norwegian Trade Unions (1981). From 1982 to 1993, he was Managing Director at the research Foundation Fafo, and became Special Advisor to the Norwegian Foreign Minister, at the rank of ambassador in 1994 and from 1997 to 1999. He also was Minister for Planning in 1996. He was UN Secretary-Generals Special Envoy to Lebanon, at the rank of Under-Secretary-General (2005 – 2015), and President and CEO of International Peace Institute (IPI), NY USA (2005 – 2020).
Participation
2023
Managing Partner of Caber Asset Management. Paul is Singapore based and runs his family office out of Singapore. He has ran Structured Finance for UBS & Lehman Brothers for Asia and subsequently ran a Private hedge fund group and real estate development companies building one of the major mixed used developments in Korea. He started out as an entrepreneur in venture business and has invested in and mentored start ups globally while based in Asia. He is focused on macro economic and geopolitical analysis as a framework for investing and security particularly given the current destruction of liberal democracy laws and social norms in the West resulting in the loss of individual and family rights and consequential loss of global relevance as the BRICS+ and global South seek to create an alternative to the prevalent Neo-Marxist identity politics social tyranny currently unfolding.
Participation
2023
Member of the Deutscher Bundestag and member of the Foreign affairs committee. He served as Chairman of the Committee from 2014 until 2021. From 2009 to 2012, he was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He has been a Member of the German Parliament since 1994. During his mandate Dr. Röttgen has fulfilled key functions within the Christian Democratic Party (CDU). Dr. Röttgen, who is a lawyer by profession, holds a PhD in Law from Bonn University. He is the Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and Board Member of various institutions, such as the Atlantik-Brücke, Asia House, Club of Three, the Hertie School of Governance Berlin and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).
Participation
2016 2023
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
Attorney-at-law at Jones Day. His practice focuses on regulatory compliance and encompasses a broad range of government regulations, product safety, installment sales regulations, commercial transactions regulations, foreign direct investment regulation, energy and environment, and competition law. He represents various clients in civil disputes. He spent 35 years at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. During his tenure as Director-General of the Trade Policy Bureau and Vice Minister for International Affairs, he worked in the field of international trade policy. He served as Chief Executive Assistant to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (2009-2010).
Participation
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2022 2023
Head of the Turkey / Middle East program at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). She joined Ifri in 2002 to work on the European policies in the Mediterranean region and in the Middle East, on the regional political and economic dynamics and on the Arab policy of France. She started the “Contemporary Turkey” research program in 2008, to follow the emergence of Turkey as a global power. Her present research focuses on Turkish diplomacy, new regional conflicts and their impact on Middle East economies. She directed the book entitled La Turquie au Moyen-Orient : une puissance régionale ? (Turkey in the Middle East: a regional power?), published by CNRS éditions in December 2011, and authored La Turquie en cent questions (A Hundred questions about Turkey, Tallandier, 2023). She graduated from Sciences Po Paris. She holds a postgraduate degree in applied economics and a PhD in political science.
Participation
2008 2012 2016 2019 2022 2023
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UAE since 2022. He began his career in economics at the German Development Institute (DIE) in 1988, followed by a stint as a UN official with UNIDO from 1989 to 1993. In 1993, Ambassador Schönfelder joined the staff of the Federal Foreign Office and served in various foreign postings, including the United States, Thailand, Japan, Iraq, and Algeria. He held leadership positions such as Deputy Head of Division for International Energy Policy (2007 – 2011) and Head of Division for General Economic Issues in International Economic and Financial Policy (2014 – 2018). In 2018, he became Deputy Director General for Economic Policy, Foreign Trade Promotion, and Digital Transformation.
Participation
2023
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Arab Emirates since May 2022. In July 2020, Mr. Senik was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Chief Digital Transformation Officer. In 2016 Dmytro Senik was appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Singapore. He also served as Ambassador of Ukraine to Brunei Darussalam and to New Zealand (with residence in Singapore). In 2014 – 2016 Mr. Senik held the position of the Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister of Ukraine. In 2012-2014 he was Adviser to the Foreign Minister, and later to the Deputy Prime-Minister of Ukraine. In 2011-2012 Dmytro worked as principal assistant to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine. In 2007-2011 he worked at the political section of the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States. Mr. Senik joined the Foreign Service in 2004. He is a graduate of the Kyiv Institute of Economics and Management. Mr. Senik received Master in Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta. In 2019, Dmytro graduated from the Nanyang Technological University with Master in Public Administration.
Participation
2022 2023
Chairman of Investisseurs et Partenaires (I&P), member of the Académie des technologies and French General Inspector of Finance. Since 2010, he has been committed to social investments in Africa. He served as Director in charge of international development at the Ministry of Cooperation and Development, Vice President of the World Bank for Asia and, CEO of France’s International Development Agency (AFD) from 2001 to 2010. He has been a director of the board of EIB and Orange, has been the lead director of the Board of Danone, chaired the Board of Ecobank International and is a Board member of Michelin. He is a senior fellow of FERDI, the Fondation pour les études et la recherche sur le développement international. His last book, co-writen with Jérémy Hadjenberg, Entreprenante Afrique, dedicated to African entrepreneurship was published in 2017 by Odile Jacob.
Participation
2011 2012 2013 2017 2022 2023
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
Founder and President of Synergia, a strategic think tank and incubation company that works in the area in deep tech and advanced technologies. He is a Commissioner with the Global Commission for Internet Governance (GCIG) and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He served as advisory board member of the Center for New American Security (CNAS), the International Council of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He has been adviser to several international organizations such as The World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières and AEDES-EU. He is a university topper, holds post graduate degree in management, is a graduate from the Harvard Business School and a Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in strategic security.
Participation
2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 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
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to the United Arab Emirates. From 2004, he worked in Polish diplomatic missions in Sanaa, Algiers and Riyadh. He is also the author of two books: Yemen – world of tribal values (2008); Arabic and Polish diplomatic and political vocabulary (2016). Jakub Sławek graduated from the Faculty of Arabic Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow in 2002. He also followed a course of Arabic in Damascus and completed post-graduate studies in the field of diplomacy and international relations at Collegium Civitas, Warsaw. Jakub Sławek holds a Ph.D. in the field of humanities (Yemen studies) from the Oriental Institute at the Warsaw University.
Participation
2022 2023
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
Chairman, independent Energy Policy Institute, a New Delhi think tank. He is rated as India’s top expert on national and international energy issues. He is also the Founder President of the prestigious World Energy Policy Summit (WEPS) and a Visiting Professor at the NTPC School of Business in India, focusing on energy policy and governance. He served as Chairman of Energy Security Group of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Chairman of the Energy and Green Economy Working Group (India) of the BRICS Business Council. Mr. Taneja is well-known in public life as a thinker, politician, TV debater and conversationalist. He had served as a National Spokesperson of the BJP, India’s governing party. He has authored several books, including Mantras for A Golden India and Glory. Growth. Goals. – India’s Oil and Gas Industry.
Participation
2010 2012 2015 2022 2023
President Exploration and Production and member of the Executive Committee of TotalEnergies since September 1st, 2021. Nicolas Terraz started his career in the French Ministries of Industry (1994-1997) and Public Works and Transportation (1997-2001) and joined TotalEnergies in 2001. After holding positions in France and in Qatar, Nicolas Terraz served as Managing Director of Total E&P Myanmar (2008-2011), Managing Director of Total E&P France (2011-2014), Vice President New Ventures for Exploration and Production (2014-2015) and Managing Director of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria (2015-2019). In 2019, Nicolas Terraz was appointed Senior Vice President Africa and a member of the management committee of the Exploration & Production segment of TotalEnergies. Born in 1969, Nicolas Terraz is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and earned a Master of Science in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Participation
2023
Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Mr. Maximo Torero Cullen joined the Organization in January 2019 as Assistant Director-General for the Economic and Social Development Department. Prior to joining FAO, he was the World Bank Group Executive Director for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay since November 2016 and before the Bank Mr. Torero led the Division of the Markets, Trade, and Institutions at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). His major research work lies mostly in analyzing poverty, inequality, importance of geography and assets (private or public) in explaining poverty, and in policies oriented towards poverty alleviation based on the role played by infrastructure, institutions, and on how technological breakthroughs (or discontinuities) can improve the welfare of households and small farmers. His experience encompasses Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia.
Participation
2022 2023
Visiting Policy Fellow at the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose in London. She is a global health and innovation expert, focusing on transforming medical R&D to address priority health needs and ensure equitable access to knowledge and technologies where and when needed, including for epidemic preparedness and response. A Bio-Engineer and Ph.D. from Brussels University (VUB), for over 20 years she has combined scientific research, pharmaceutical R&D, policy analysis and research, and advocacy at Brussels University, Médecins Sans Frontières, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and Open Society Foundations. She is now an independent researcher and consultant including working with Rt. Hon. Helen Clark and other former members of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response and with the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All. She is a member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Vaccine Market Information for Access. A recent Rockefeller Bellagio Centre resident, she is also an Honorary Science Fellow at the VUB, and author on over 50 international journal publications including in the Lancet, BMJ, Nature, and Vaccines.
Participation
2023
Senior Managing Partner at Ardian (the leading investment firm, 150 Bn of AUM) and Global Head of International Affairs. He is also Vice President of the French GCC Business councils at MEDEF International, the French largest business organization as well as Head of the Sovereign Wealth Funds Council. Prior to joining Ardian, he had served in the French Foreign Office for 15 years, including as MENA advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is Board Member at Siaci Saint Honoré Group (Paris), a leading European insurance brokerage firm and at Dedalus, a world leader in IT software solutions for healthcare. François-Aïssa Touazi is Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Participation
2023
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
Group Head of Investment Banking at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), member of the Executive Committee. With a focus on regional expansion, Martin has led the development of the FAB product proposition and the client coverage model and is reinforcing FAB’s positioning as a regional leader in the Investment Banking space. Prior to joining FAB, Martin held several senior positions with HSBC group, including Deputy Chairman and CEO for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, and was Group General Manager at HSBC. He was also the CEO for HSBC Australia and for HSBC Korea and held senior leadership positions over two decades at HSBC Global Banking and Markets across the Middle East, the UK and Europe. In addition to leading FAB’s Investment Banking franchise, Martin is the Chairman of the bank’s FAB Suisse subsidiary and Vice Chairman for the FAB Capital Saudi Arabia Board. He is also a trustee of the Universite Paris II Assas, Sorbonne, and was appointed by French Prime Minister decree a Conseiller du Commerce Exterieur de la France in 2001. Martin graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, holds a Master’s in Law from La Sorbonne University, Paris, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Paris Nanterre University.
Participation
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
Global Head of Official Institutions at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank. Emmanuelle has held several positions in the market Department of Ca-cib from 2001 to 2020. She has in particular created and headed the Central banks Sales team from 2006, and has worked in Paris in London in this capacity. From 2016 to 2020 she was also responsible for the sales team covering Financial Institutions in France and Belgium. She joined the coverage in January 2020, as Global Head of Official Institutions. Emmanuelle Trochu started her career in 1994 in Banque de France as a forex trader and then portfolio manager. She participated in several European working groups to prepare the ECB foreign exchange reserves set up. Emmanuelle Trochu holds a master in French Litterature, she graduated from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (Master in Finance).
Participation
2023
CEO of Veracity Worldwide, the New York-based global risk and business intelligence firm, and a strategic advisor to corporate leaders and investors on geopolitical risk and market intelligence. Prior to joining Veracity, he worked at McKinsey & Company on strategy and risk management topics spanning five continents and multiple industries. As a US diplomat, he served as Special Assistant to two Deputy Secretaries of State and Chief of Staff at the US Embassy in Pakistan, with additional postings in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, and at the US Mission to the OSCE. Mr. Truesdale is a US Navy veteran and holds degrees from Stanford, Harvard, and the Fletcher School at Tufts.
Participation
2023
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, since January 2022. Roman Vassilenko has been on Kazakhstan’s diplomatic service since 1996, first as Third Secretary and later as Second Secretary at the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He worked as Assistant to the Head of Prime Minister’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1999 – 2000), Chief Inspector of the Secretariat of the Secretary of State of Kazakhstan, Consultant of the President’s Chancery of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State of Kazakhstan (2007 – 2009). He served as Chairman of the Committee for International Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, overseeing the communications for the Ministry during such important periods as Kazakhstan’s chairmanships in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (2009 – 2012). He served as Deputy Director (2012 – 2013) of the Nazarbayev Center, a multifunctional scientific, analytical, humanitarian and educational public institution. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2016 – 2019). He served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Slovak Republic (2019 – 2022). He was appointed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan again in January 2022.
Participation
2022 2023
Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to the United Arab Emirates, based in Abu Dhabi. Prior to his current appointment, Ambassador Vaswani served as Director-General for Europe and concurrently Vice Dean (Academic)/Diplomatic Academy at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Born in 1970, Ambassador Vaswani graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Second Class Honours (Upper Division) from the National University of Singapore in 1995. He obtained a Masters in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University in 2003, on a Singapore Government Scholarship. Ambassador Vaswani joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July 1995. His first overseas assignment was as First Secretary at the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur from 1998 to 2002. Following his post-graduate studies, he served as an Assistant Director in the Policy, Planning & Analysis Directorate I (covering Southeast Asia). Ambassador Vaswani was posted as Counsellor at the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta from 2004 to 2008 and Deputy Permanent Representative at Singapore’s Permanent Mission to ASEAN from 2008 to 2009. He subsequently served as Deputy Director in the Southeast Asia Directorate from 2009 to 2012, and as Deputy Director-General for Southeast Asia from April 2012 to June 2015.
Participation
2023
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
Member of Total Professeurs Associés, and of the French Energy Council. He was Executive Vice President at Total in charge of Strategy and Risk Assessment (2000-2008). He was Chief Financial Officer of Elf Aquitaine (1994-2000). He began his career at the Ministry for Industry (1972-1978), then he joined the Prime Minister Raymond Barre’s cabinet (1978-1981). He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique, and the Ecole des mines in Paris. He holds a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Participation
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2019 2022 2023
Senior Advisor at Lee International IP & Law Group. Previously, he held the position of President of the Korea Foundation (2007-2010). He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1974 and served, among others, as Korean Ambassador to Canada (2004-2007) and Egypt (1996-1999). In 2001, he was Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and in 2002, he was appointed as the National Security Advisor to President Kim Dae-jung. He formerly co-chaired the Korea-Canada Forum. He graduated from Seoul National University, Oxford University and Keio University.
Participation
2009 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2022 2023
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
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at Investment Corporation of Dubai – ICD. He is the Chief Operating Officer of ICD, Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund ($320 billion AUM). Leading the corporate functions, he supports the Managing Director in the corporate strategy development and is responsible for the efficient operational management of the organization with the aim of optimizing business performance. He is a member of several boards, including IHI – International Hotel Investments, Dangote Cement, Dubai Global Connect and SmartStream. Prior to joining ICD, he was with Xerox for over 25 years during which he held several board, general management, leadership and transformation roles in Europe, North America and globally. His last position was Corporate Officer and President, Channel Partner Operations for Xerox based in New York. In this role, he led an end-to-end global business generating over $10 billion in revenue. On a social and humanitarian level, he has always been very active in the fields of education, innovation and health. He is a member of the board of directors of IPEMED (Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranée). He studied at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, holds an engineering degree from the National School of State Public Works – ENTPE (France) and is also graduated in Business Administration – Strategy and Management – from ESSEC (Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) in Paris. He has lived in France, Japan, USA, Spain, Italy, UK and Dubai.
Participation
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.
Participation
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2017 2018 2021 2022 2023
Partner and Director at the Boston Consulting Group. Based in Morocco, Mr. Zrikem is BCG’s Public Sector Practice node for Africa. He serves clients in governments on various issues (social protection, food systems, trade, investment, and climate change). Before joining BCG, he was a Partner at Roland Berger and worked for Azura, a leading agriculture Moroccan company. Prior to that, Mr. Zrikem served as an adviser to the Moroccan Prime Minister and a Project Director at Sciences Po Paris. Mr. Zrikem studied at École normale supérieure, Sciences Po Paris and La Sorbonne.