World Economic Forum, Davos, 28 - 30 January 2009
The Duke of York attended the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, between 28th and 30th January 2009, completing 45 engagements over three days.
Wednesday 29th January
2009 is the third year His Royal Highness has attended Davos. The Duke has developed a productive relationship with the World Economic Forum over those three years and was in 2008 asked to be co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. The Annual Meeting provides a unique opportunity to continue to engage with many of the world's business and political leaders in one place. His Royal Highness was keen to hear from British companies, and from businesses who have a significant interest in the UK, about the impact on their businesses of the challenging economic climate. He spoke with Chief Executives about their pursuit of key business opportunities and discussed how priority markets would change in the short- and medium-term. The Duke also was able to hold bilateral meetings with key Heads of State and Ministers in priority markets for the UK.
His Royal Highness met John Roussant, Executive Chairman, Publicislive; Chris Hyman, Chief Executive Officer, Serco; and John Studzinski, Senior Managing Director and Global Head, Corporate Advisory Services, The Blackstone Group.
He later met His Excellency Minister Rachid Rachid, the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, before attending a special session with the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, and an opening address by the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. The Duke later attended a reception given by KPMG and held a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
Thursday 30th January
Thursday marked another busy day of meetings. Bilaterals are held in small rooms in the Congress Hall in Davos, and also in nearby hotels. In the morning the Duke conducted a series of interviews with the BBC World Service, BBC World Television and BBC Breakfast.
Click here to see the Duke's interview with Tanya Beckett on BBC World Television
His Royal Highness maintained that many sound businesses in the UK were finding it difficult to operate not only because of the global downturn but also because of the unavailability of credit. He also warned against the rise of economic protectionism, saying national stimulus packages had the potential to threaten free and open international trade.
A camera crew from ITN followed the Duke for the day. Click here to see Daisy McAndrew, ITV's Economics Editor, with His Royal Highness on the ITV Lunchtime News.
His Royal Highness subsequently attended meetings with Terry Smith, Chief Executive, Tullett Prebon plc; Samir Brikho, Chief Executive, AMEC; and Mayor Moratti, the Mayor of Milan. Later, The Duke attended a lunch given by The President of Mongolia, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, and called upon The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. He subsequently attended the WEF Energy Summit.
His Royal Highness defended the principles-based regulation system of the City of London to the Financial Times, and maintained that the UK was still the world's "greatest place for international finance". Read the whole FT article here (may require registration).
In the evening, The Duke held a Reception for the United Kingdom, under the theme "The UK: Springboard for Global Growth". More than 200 people attended the event, which brought together much of the British political and business contingent at Davos, as well as international companies and Public Figures with interests in the UK.
His Royal Highness later held a Middle East Dinner.
Friday 31st January
Friday started with a meeting with the Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest. This was followed by a plenary session, "Business Call to Action", with the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and the Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates. "Business Call to Action" challenges companies working in developing nations to produce business ideas that are both commercially viable and help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The Duke subsequently called upon The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, and attended a business lunch given by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
His Royal Highness also spoke to CNN's Richard Quest see the full interview here. The Duke admitted that the UK was more affected by the global economic crisis than most countries because of its open and transparent economy but he stressed that "UK Inc" was not broken.
His Royal Highness afterwards attended meetings with Governor Al Dabbagh, Governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; Tony Blair, the UN's Middle East Quartet Representative; Nikesh Arora, President, Google Europe, Middle East and Africa; and the South African Minister of Trade, Mandisi Mpahlwa.
The Duke later called upon the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari, and met the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus, before attending a Reception given by JP Morgan. Finally, he gave a dinner for Ministers and Representatives from the Association of South East Asian Nations.
