Category: Invited guests

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.

John Sawers is Executive Chairman of Newbridge Advisory, which he founded in 2019 to advise corporate leaders on geopolitics and political risk. He is also a Non-Executive Director of BP.  He was Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 (2009-2014). Prior to that he was UK’s Ambassador to the United Nations and Egypt, Political Director of the Foreign Office and Foreign Policy Adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Since leaving public service he has been advising global companies and investors. John Sawers studied at the universities of Nottingham, St. Andrews and Harvard.

Head of Airbus Strategy and International since 2017. He began his career in the aeronautical industry at MBDA in 1997, before spending three years with Baker & McKenzie. He joined Airbus in 2002. At the end of 2010, he joined the Commercial Division of Airbus and was appointed Vice-President Contract. In 2014, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ATR. In 2016, in the frame of the Airbus reorganization, he came back to Airbus as member of the Executive Committee, becoming Corporate Secretary (of Airbus Commercial Aircraft) and Executive Vice-President Strategy (of Airbus). He has a DESS (advanced post-graduate diploma) from the University of Bordeaux, and a DEA (advanced post-graduate diploma) from the Sorbonne University and Paris II Assas. He is a qualified attorney (CAPA) with the Paris Bar.

Founder and Managing Partner, Bussmann Advisory. He also holds important mandates in industry associations, including as President of the Swiss Crypto Valley Association, Global Ambassador for UK-based Innovate Finance and as a Board Member of Identity 2020. He served as was Group Chief Information Officer of UBS (2013-2016). Prior to joining UBS, he was Global Chief Information Officer at SAP, and before that CIO for North America & Mexico at Allianz. Previous roles have included executive positions at Deutsche Bank and IBM. He has been included twice on the Financial News “FinTech 40” list of innovators shaping the future of finance.

Managing Partner of McLarty Associates. He has led the firm’s work in Europe and Eurasia since 2007. He was a partner with McKinsey & Company (1992-1995). He also served as US Chief Negotiator in the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the former Soviet Union. Prior to this, he was US Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (1985-1989). He worked at the State Department as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian affairs (1983-1985). He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He graduated from Cornell University and from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Vice-Chair of the Management Board, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) since 2011. He held several positions at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (2000-2010) and among others Managing Director, Director General of the Country Department Asia/Pacific, Latin America/Caribbean, Director General of the Country Department Mediterranean Region, Europe and Central Asian Countries. He was also a Research associate to the chair of economic and social geography, Ruhr-Universität Bochum (1991-1996). He is member of the Board and Honorary Professor of Tongji University, Shanghai. He holds a doctorate degree from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB).

Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, International Monetary Fund since 2017. He served as Lebanon’s Finance Minister (2005-2008). Before and since his time as finance minister, he has held a wide range of posts in the private sector, including McKinsey and Booz and Co. where he served as vice president and senior executive advisor (2009-2013). Prior to joining the Fund he was a managing partner at the advisory and investment firm Inventis Partners. He holds a PhD in International Finance and a post-graduate degree in International Economics and Finance, both from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. He also did research on emerging economies and their integration into the global economy as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard, and holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics and Finance from Dauphine University, Paris.

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.

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.

Director, Strategic Business and Planning Division, Natural Resources Canada, Government of Canada. Previous to his current role, he has worked at the heart of the Canadian federal public service in both the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board Secretariat. He has also worked in consulting for Deloitte and the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Action Canada public policy leadership program. He graduated with a Masters degree from Dalhousie University.

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.

Chairman and CEO, Maurinvest Group, which he founded in 2011. It is a company that develops industries and add values through fundings with international partners. He is also the Chairman/CEO of MAURILOG a logistics services & transport company for Industrial Projects, Oil & Gas and Mining activities in Mauritania. He started in the fishing business at the age of 28. He is the founder of MIP SEAFOOD, the unique Mauritanian company able to reach Europeans standards allowed to export directly transformed products from the sea. He has been providing outboard motors for the fishing sector for the past 20 years. He served as in Charge of the Promotion of Private Investments between 2007 and 2008. He graduated from ENSM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique) in France.

Deputy Director-General at the World Trade Organization since 2013. He has extensive experience in world trade and economics, both as a senior government official and subsequently as China’s ambassador to the WTO. Prior to becoming China’s ambassador to the WTO in 2011, he was Assistant Minister and subsequently China’s Vice Minister of Commerce in charge of multilateral and regional trade negotiations and cooperation. Besides his contribution to China’s WTO accession, he played a leading role in negotiating numerous free trade agreements (FTAs), including the China-ASEAN agreement, China’s first FTA. He also worked as a diplomat at the Chinese Embassy in the United States for more than four years from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. He obtained a Master’s degree in economics from Nankai University in China in 1999.

Managing Director, Middle East Region, Electricité de France (EdF)since 2014, based in Abu Dhabi. She is an advisor to the French Foreign Trade since 2011. In 2012, she became Managing Director for MENA and Turkey for Alstom Transport. She was Country President for Near East at Alstom in Amman (Jordan) (2009-2012). In 2008, she was Project Manager at Bouygues Travaux Publics (Construction). In 2005, she settled in Jakarta (Indonesia) and held the position of Deputy Sales Director for Areva Transmission & Distribution until 2007. She graduated from the French school SUPELEC.

Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels. He began his career in the finance sector in 1985 in the United States. In 1997, he joined Colony Capital to install and develop from Paris the European branch of the private investment firm. Within 15 years, he managed and participated in a number of investments in the hotel sector. Member of AccorHotels’ board since 2005, he was appointed as Chairman and CEO of the Group in 2013. He is also Vice-Chairman of the supervisory board of the Gustave Roussy Foundation and member of the Board of Directors of GE. He holds a master in Economics from the Sorbonne University of Paris.

President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum since November 2014. He joined Qatar Petroleum (QP) in 1986 as a student, studying Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, USA. Immediately after graduation, he joined QP’s Reservoir & Field Development Department, where he progressed through various positions. He then became the Manager of Gas Development responsible for North Field management and development. From 2006 until this appointment, he was the Director of QP’s Oil & Gas Ventures Directorate. In September 2014, he was appointed as QP’s Managing Director. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University, USA.

Chief Business Officer and member of the Executive Committee at Cellectis. Cellectis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company using its pioneering gene editing platform to develop life-saving cell and gene therapies. Arthur is also a Board member at Primera Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing patient-centric gene therapies targeting the root cause of mitochondrial disorders, and a Board Advisor of the US non-profit Life Science Cares. Arthur began his career at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition controlling global pharmaceutical mergers. He later became Head of the Hospital Financing unit at the French Ministry of Health, where he led a team responsible for the national hospital budget. Arthur graduated from the École normale supérieure and Cambridge University, and holds a diploma in Immunotherapy from the University of Paris. Arthur is also a member of the French Corps des mines.

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.

Austrian Ambassador to the State of Qatar since 2016. He joined the Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1986. He served as Head of Directorate of COREPER I Affairs regarding EU Single Market including Digital Single Market and Defence Single Market, Open Technology and Innovation, EU Security Research (2012-2016). He was also a national detached expert at the European Commission from 2003 to 2007. He held posts in Kinshasa, Geneva and Tel Aviv among others. He has been a senior lecturer at Danube University, Krems, and Sigmund Freud University, Vienna. He graduated from the University of Vienna and from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

Former Palestinian National Authority Ambassador to the United States (1994-2995) and to Morocco (2005-2009). He is currently CEO and Vice President of the Council on Arab Relations with Latin America and the Caribbean (CARLAC) and a Senior Advisor to the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE). He also served as deputy representative of the PLO to the UN in New York. He is an active participant in the Peace Process in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, serving as a senior political advisor to the Palestinian negotiating teams at the Madrid Conference of 1991, Wye River Conference and Camp David 2000 Summit. He graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and the University of New York.

China Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue since 2014. After graduation, he worked in the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, at the Embassy of China to the Arab Republic of Egypt, at the Foreign Affairs Office of the State Council of China and at the Permanent Mission of China to the UN. He served as Head of the Chinese Office to the Palestinian National Authority (at the Rank of Ambassador), Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Ambassador to the Republic Turkey. He graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Executive Director of Reach Out To Asia (ROTA). He joined ROTA as Senior Operations Manager in 2009 and was promoted to the role of Executive Director in 2010. Since then he has been responsible for continuing the strategic course set by ROTA’s Board of Directors. Under his leadership, the organization has led a variety of initiatives in 13 countries around Asia and Qatar. He has served on the steering committees of various international and local groups in the field of development and social responsibility. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards Working Group. In Qatar, he represents ROTA on the Steering Board of the TAMM Volunteer Network, of which ROTA is a founding member.

President of the Institute for Pan-African Strategies, Peace-Security-Governance (IPS). He has been a member of the National Assembly of Senegal since 2017 and became Vice President in October 2019 until 2022. He was the Special Envoy of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2017 and Special Representative of the OIC Secretary General for Africa from 2016 to 2017. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of the African Union and Senegalese Abroad from 2000 to 2002, before serving as Senior Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Senegal from 2002 to 2009. Former President of the “Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa”, he is currently the Special Envoy of the OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie). He holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) from Paris-Sorbonne V University and a Ph.D. in Communication and International Development from Ohio State University.

Executive Vice President, CHO of BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute) Group. Previously, she was the Project Director of The Southern Securities Investment Bank, Vice Dean of School of Economics and Management at Tongji University, Executive Dean of Chinese Academy of Science and Technology Management. She was also a visiting scholar of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (2005-2007) and a visiting scholar of Gothenburg University in Sweden (2012). Her research focuses on innovation management and policy. She has also published a book entitled Power of Innovation and more than 30 papers in high-impact journals and conference domestically and internationally.

Prime Minister of Qatar since 26 June 2013. After serving in different posts in the government, on 15 February 2005, he was appointed Minister of State for Interior Affairs. He was named as Prime Minister on 26 June 2013 in a cabinet reshuffle. He was also named as Minister of the Interior in the same cabinet reshuffle. He graduated from Durham Military College, United Kingdom, in 1984 and received a bachelor’s degree in police sciences in 1995.

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. 

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.

CEO, He-Sai Photonics Technologies. Formerly Principal Engineer at Western Digital. Before joining Western Digital, he has worked in several Fortune 500 companies including Lam Research and Parker Hannifin. At Tsinghua University, he cohosted “Silk Roads”, an exchange program between students from top universities in China and France. He graduated from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He holds a Ph.D in Robotics and Pattern Recognition from the University of Illinois.