Category: Invited guests

Francis Lorentz is a Founding Partner and Chairman of LD&A Jupiter, (European “boutique” dedicated to M&A and corporate finance for TMT midcaps). He served as Executive Vice-President of Lyonnaise des Eaux (water and energy distribution). He was Chairman and CEO of RATP (Paris public transportation system). He was also an Associate Professor at Paris Dauphine University. He headed the restructuring of the Galeries Lafayette technology services branch, as co-CEO of LaSer. He was also Chairman (and is still a board member) of IDATE- Digiworld Institute, a think-tank and consultancy organisation dedicated to telecoms and Internet. He holds an MBA from HEC and is a former student of ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration).

President of the Cercle des Economistes, Professor at Paris-Dauphine University, Advisor to the Supervisory Board of Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild. He started his career in 1975 as Professor of Economics at the Paris XIII University and the Ecole Normale Supérieure. He was Adviser to the President of Havas Group, Economic Adviser to the French Prime Minister (industry, services, telecommunications), CEO of CEA Industrie. He authored several books and articles and he participates in different radio and television programs. He holds a doctoral degree in Economic Sciences.

Dean and Professor in the Practice of Public Policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He previously served for 33 years in the Singapore Foreign Service and was Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry (1993-1998). He was included in the list of Top 50 individuals who would shape the debate on future capitalism, Financial Times, 2009, and was named as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, Foreign Policy, 2010. He is the author of Can Asians Think? published in Singapore, Canada, US, Mexico, India and China and his articles have appeared in a wide range of journals and newspapers, including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Time, Newsweek and The New York Times. He graduated in philosophy from Singapore and Canada.

Professor of Geopolitics and International Relations and Senior Fellow at ESSEC Business School. He was elected Dean of the Faculté des sciences sociales et économiques, before being the President of the Catholic University of Paris. He was Director of the Direction de la Prospective (Policy Planning Staff) at the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. He graduated as valedictorian from the Institut d’études politiques of Paris. He also graduated in Law, Political Science and Philosophy and he holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Sociology. He is a member of the Ifri Strategic board and a member of the Editorial board of Études.

Senior partner at IJ Partners, an investment boutique for ultra-high-net-worth individuals based in Geneva. He was managing partner at Rainbow Insight, an advisory boutique which he founded, providing tailor-made intelligence to investors. He headed the Global Risk Network at the World Economic Forum. He worked as a Chief Economist and Strategist of a major Russian investment bank and as an Economist at the EBRD in London, in think tanks and academia (both in New York and Oxford) and in the Prime Minister’s office in Paris. He was educated at the Sorbonne and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. He holds two MAs (in Economics and History) and a PhD in Economics.

Full professor for linguistics and didactics of Roman languages at the Institute of Romance Studies at the University of Vienna since 1989. He has given lectures in almost every country in Europe, in Cuba, in Chile and in Peru. He is member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and honorary member of the Romanian Academy of Sciences. He is co-founder and co-editor of the Romanistisches Kolloquium, the Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik and the Cinderella-book series. He studied Romance philology at the universities of Basel, Zurich, Salamanca, Coimbra and Padua. Doctorate in 1969 in Ibero-Romance philology, French linguistics and Italian literary studies at the University of Basel.

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 and Chairman of the “Cercle de la Bibliothèque nationale de France”. 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.

Head of Basic Research (Erste Group) and Senior Fellow at the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI). He is an expert on population change, international migration and demographic aging, their economic impact and their implications for retail banking and social security systems. In 1979 he joined the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Between 1992 and 2003 he was head of the Department of Demography at Humboldt University, Berlin. He was visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Universities of Bamberg, Frankfurt, Klagenfurt, Vienna and Zurich. He has worked as consultant for the European Commission, the OECD and the World Bank. He holds a PhD from Vienna University.

Founder-Chairman of Infosys since 1981, a global software consulting company headquartered in Bangalore, India. He is an IT advisor to several Asian countries. He serves on the boards of HSBC, Ford Foundation and the UN Foundation. He served as a member of the Unilever board (2007-2010). He served as Chairman of the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (2002-2012) and Chairman of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (2002- 2007). The Economist ranked him among the ten most-admired global business leaders in 2005. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and a foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering.

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, was Director of the Intelligence Bureau for two terms 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. He 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. He was awarded the Padma Shri, a National Order in 1992. He holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Madras.

Chairman of the Board of the University of Vienna and President of the Austrian UNESCO Commission. She entered the Austrian Foreign Service in 1973.She served as Counselor to the Austrian Mission at the United Nations in New York. Then, she was appointed Foreign Policy Advisor to the Austrian Federal Chancellor. She was the Austrian Ambassador to France (1992-1997) and the Austrian Ambassador to the Court of St. James (1997-1999) and the Austrian Ambassador to the United States of America, with accreditation to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (2003-2008). She retired from the Foreign Service in October 2008. She studied at the University of Vienna with history as her major subject and German literature as a minor and received her Ph.D. in 1968.

Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) since 2008. He served as CEO of the Austrian BAWAG P.S.K. Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft, Vice President and Member of the Executive Board of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and President of the Governing Board of Österreichische Postsparkasse (P.S.K.). He was an elected Member of the Austrian Parliament. He served as Full Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, where he also held the position of Vice-Rector. He studied law and government sciences at the University of Vienna and economics at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Vienna. He holds a doctorate in law from the University of Vienna.

Adviser to the CEO of Basic Element, Mr. Deripaska, and Member of the Supervisory Board of the company since 2005. He also sits on the Board of Vol’noye Delo, a charity foundation. He was Deputy CEO responsible for International Affairs and Public Relations at Basic Element (2003-2005), Vice President of the M.I.C. Industries (USA) and Co-Chairman of the International Press Center and Club “Moscow”. Prior to his career in business, he held several diplomatic positions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He graduated with a degree in International Relations from Moscow State Institute of International Relations and holds a degree in International Public Diplomacy and Public Relations from the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.

Senior fellow and director of the program on international institutions and global governance at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Previously he was Research Fellow at the Center for Global Development. He served on the Secretary of State’s policy planning staff (2002-2005) and was research associate at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, where he also taught U.S. foreign policy (1997-2002). He also served as a professional lecturer in international relations/conflict management at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He is the author or co-author of four books and writes the blog “The Internationalist”. His most recent book is Weak Links: Fragile States, Global Threats, and International Security. He graduated from Stanford University with a BA in human biology and received his doctorate in international relations, as well as two masters degrees, in international relations and European history, from Oxford University.

Managing Partner of the Clean Energy Forum (CEF) and Managing Director of Pflüger International GmbH. He is Senior Advisor at Berlin Global Advisors (BGA) and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Zukunft Gas (The Voice of the Gas and Hydrogen Economy). He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Climate, Energy and Mobility (IKEM) and Senior Fellow at the Global Energy Centre of the Atlantic Council, Washington D.C. 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).

Advocate registered with the Supreme Court of India since 1976. In 1986, he opened an office in Paris to advice French and European Companies doing business with India. Phadke Law has vast practical experience in the international disputes settlement & institutional arbitration in the energy, aviation & construction industries and also a background on policy matters as advice has been sought in making Indian Governmental policy decisions on taxation, defence & aviation policies. He graduated from the University of New Delhi, the University of Cambdrige and the University of Geneva.

President of Oesterreichische Nationalbank since 2008. He was Chairman and CEO of Böhler-Uddeholm AG (1991-2010), Deputy Chairman and Senior Executive Vice President of Voest-Alpine Stahl AG (1998-1992), Deputy Chairman and Senior Executive Vice President of Voest-Alpine AG (1986-1988). He started his career as Senior assistant at the Institute for Applied Social and Economic Research (1970-1971). He writes various articles on current economic affairs and financial issues in economic journals He holds a master’s degree in commerce and a doctoral degree in economics from Vienna University of Economics.

President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice.  She served as President of Ireland (1990-1997) and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). She is a member of the Elders and the Club of Madrid. In March 2013, she was appointed the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa. She held the position of chair of the Council of Women World Leaders. She was also President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative (2002-2010) and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International (2002-2012).

First full-time President of the European Council. He was Prime Minister of Belgium in 2009. Prior to this he served as President (Speaker) of the Chamber of Representatives. He has held a number of portfolios in the Belgian Government including Secretary of State for Finance (1988), Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Budget (1993-1999). He also worked as an economist in Belgium’s central bank and served in both the Senate (1988-1995) and the Chamber of Representatives (1995-2009).

Co-Chairman of the Polish-Russian Working Group on Difficult Matters, member of the NATO Group of Experts on new Strategic Concept of Alliance (2009 -2010) and Commissioner of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative Commission. He is former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland and Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1990-2002). He is also a member of many other boards and scientific councils in Poland and abroad, and a professor at Warsaw University. He is the co-author (with A. Torkunov) of White Spots – Black Spots. Difficult Matters in Polish-Russian Relations 1918-2008, published in 2010.

Director of the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) and Chairman of the Herzliya Conference Series. Partner in the global security consultancy firm NETACS and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Afeka School of Engineering. He is a former member of the Advisory Board of the Bank of Israel. He served for more than 30 years in the Israel Defence Forces in a variety of command and staff positions, including Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Chief of the Intelligence Research and Analysis Department of Military Intelligence, Commander of the Liaison Unit in Lebanon and Assistant to the Chief of Staff.

Research Director with independent Munich-based rating agency oekom research since 2003. From 2009 to 2011, she has been participating in the Global Reporting Initiative Oil and Gas Sector Supplement Working Group. Before joining oekom research, she worked in research projects at the Institute of Environmental Technology of the Technical University Berlin, the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin and at a state-run water and wastewater company in Recife, Brazil. She holds a university degree (Diplom-Ingenieur) in environmental engineering. She also studied at the Technical Universities of Hamburg-Harburg and Berlin and the University of Aveiro, Portugal.

Rothschild Group Chairman. He has been in the business for 40 years and has worked in different branches of the family firm. In 1981, Banque Rothschild, the company originally founded by James de Rothschild in 1812 under the name De Rothschild Frères, was nationalised by the French government. A regrouping was led by David de Rothschild and his cousin, and they finally secured the right to operate a new banking business under the family name in 1986. He also sits on the boards of Casino and Compagnie Financière Martin Maurel. He is also President of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah.

Chairman and CEO of Poongsan Group, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of copper products and munitions. He is actively involved in numerous business organizations, most notably as Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), Chairman of the Korea-U.S. Business Council, Chairman of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs (SFIA) and Chairman of the Korea-France Club. Additionally, he supports a number of philanthropic organizations worldwide. He serves on the Board of Governors of the PGA Tour’s First Tee Program, and is Board Chairman of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation Korea as well as Vice Chairman of the Korea Mecenat Association. He also serves his alma mater Seoul National University as a member of the Advisory Committee at the Institute for Future Strategy.

Executive Chairman for the new Asia-Pacific entity of the Capgemini Group. Former Chairman & CEO of Sogeti and member of Capgemini Group Executive Committee. He joined Cap Sogeti Group in 1978. He served among others as Vice Chief Executive of Capgemini France, Vice Chief Executive Officer of Capgemini America and Deputy Director of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Group. Since 2009, he has been the Executive Committee’s sponsor for Defense activities in France, acting on behalf of the Capgemini Group. The French Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appointed him as National Coordinator of the French Cyber Defense Military Reserve in 2012. He graduated from the University Witwatersrand, South Africa and from the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Défense Nationale.

Fellow of the Academy of technologies, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), Inspector General of Finance, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for International Research and Development (FERDI), Jean-Michel Severino has been Director of Development at the French Ministry of Cooperation, Vice-President for East Asia at the World Bank and Director General of the French Development Agency. He has been a lead director of Danone, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ecobank International and a director of Orange, as well as the Carrefour, Sanofi, Alstom and Avril foundations. He chairs Veolia’s “critical friends committee” and the governance committee of Michelin’s supervisory board. He was also a Senior Fellow of the German Marshall Fund, an advisor to the European Commissioner for Development and a member of the French Foreign Affairs Council. He regularly publishes in the French and international press and is the author of several books on international economics, Africa and development.

Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. Former executive director of the Atlantic Forum of Israel. As part of his work at the Institute, he heads research programs that focus on Israeli foreign policy and the European Union’s and NATO’s relations with Israel and the Middle East. He teaches International Relations, Government and Security Studies at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the IDC. His areas of specialization include regional cooperation in the Middle East Basin and in the Asia-Pacific region. He holds an MA (cum laude) in International Relations from the Hebrew University.

Vice-Chairman of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of the Delegation to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan and EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, and for relations with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia, of the Delegation for relations with the United States and of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. He is a Member of the European Parliament since 1996, Vice-Chairman, PSE Group, European Parliament and PSE Group parliamentary manager. He was Vice-President, Interparliamentary delegation for relations with South-East Europe (1997-2004). He studied law and economics.

Member of the board of Carrefour, Club Méditerranée and Planet Finance & Financité and President of Le Riffray. After four years devoted to urban planning and public housing development programmes in several cities in France on behalf of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (a major French State financial operator), she joined, in 1979, the business world, participating in the management, development and executive direction of her family’s business group. Until January, 2006, she was CEO of Groupe Taittinger and Groupe du Louvre. She also served as CEO and then Chairman of Baccarat. She graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris, from HEC (MBA) and Paris 5 University, post graduate degree in sociology, city planning and urban development.