Panelists Offer Insights and Spark Conversation
In the first day of the second annual New York Forum, leading experts offered insights on creating jobs in the U.S., China''s future and the importance of empowering women as a tool for economic development.
Richard Attias, Founder of The New York Forum and Founder and Chairman of Richard Attias & Associates (Photo: Business Wire)
"For a second consecutive year, the New York Forum brought together a fully committed group of top business leaders who shared more optimism and who are very focused on bringing solutions to the major issues that the economy is facing," said Richard Attias, founder of The New York Forum and Chairman of Richard Attias & Associates.
President Obama''s Council Recommends Strategies for Job Creation
A high-level panel of members of President Barack Obama''s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness called for a focus on entrepreneurship, reforming immigration, investing in public-private partnerships and a renewed spirit of optimism to spur job creation.
Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama, said creating jobs is challenging but attainable and "There is reason to be optimistic." While the President believes long-term, sustainable job growth rests with the private sector, she said, investing in big infrastructure projects will help jump-start the economy. Fast-tracking those projects is an immediate priority.
Jarrett also stressed the need to invest in the "workforce of tomorrow" and to continue supporting research, education and infrastructure.
The panel also included Council members Steve Case, Chairman, Revolution LLC; Co-Founder of AOL, and Chairman of The Case Foundation; Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast; Laura D''Andrea Tyson, SK and Angela Chan Chair in Global Management, Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley; and Robert Wolf, Chairman, UBS Americas; President, UBS Investment Bank. This conversation was lead by moderator, Chrystia Freeland, Digital Editor, Thomson Reuters.
No Slowing of China''s Growth, Panelists Say
China''s explosive growth will continue, said a panel of experts, with one panelist noting that in just three to four years, China will be the world''s largest consumer market. Panelists agreed that the development of China''s economy is still in its formative stage and will continue to evolve.
While the private sector has provided more than 70 percent of new jobs, state-owned enterprises continue to play a major role. One panelist credited this public-private "hybrid" model as one reason for China''s continuing success, calling it the "most competitive model."
Panelists included Feng Lun, Chairman, Vantone Holdings Company; Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa; Liang Xinjun, Vice Chairman & CEO, Fosun International; Wang Shi, Chairman, China Vanke Company, and was moderated by Joseph Kahn, Deputy Foreign Editor, The New York Times.
Empowering Women an Engine of Economic Growth
Calling women "one of the most untapped resources in the world," a panel discussion entitled "Different Sensibilities, Different Results?" focused on how empowering women has major economic impact. Citing studies that showed women''s participation is critical, one panelist noted that "difference is valuable and difference is what produces better outcomes."
The issue, the panelists agreed, was getting enough women into leadership positions. That support needs to start early and continue throughout a woman''s career. Recommendations included more flexible work options, better childcare, mentoring, closing the gender gap in education and engaging male leaders.
Panelists included Cecilia Attias, Founder, Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women; Beth Brooke, Global Vice Chair, Ernst & Young; Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Laetitia Pichot de Cayeux, CEO and Portfolio Manager, Ajna Partners; Phillip Scanlan, Australian Consul General in New York, which was lead by moderator, Cindi Leive, Editor-in-Chief, Glamour.
EDITOR''S NOTES
About the New York Forum:
The New York Forum brings together business leaders, sovereign fund managers, policymakers and Nobel prize-winning economists to craft innovative ideas addressing current challenges facing the global economy.
CEOs, investors, and policy makers participate in intensive taskforces led by The Boston Consulting Group to explore the tangible challenges and opportunities associated with specific trends in the current environment.
The Forum aims to create an environment in which leaders from different sectors can collaborate with industry experts to begin the process of reinventing business and creating a new paradigm for growth.
www.ny-forum.com
About Richard Attias & Associates:
Richard Attias & Associates is a strategic communications firm that provides private consultancy, idea initiatives and live experiences. Our mission is to help leaders, corporations and nations build their global influence, catalyze innovation and lead the global exchange of ideas.
Richard Attias is the world''s top community builder for the "thinking elite". Over the last two decades, he has built a matchless reputation for helping nations, organizations and corporations catalyze the global exchange of ideas.
This talent for anticipating the most pressing issues of our time, activating global networks of thought leaders, and inspiring innovation is based on his unique experience developing some of the most influential gatherings of global leaders in the last 20 years including the World Economic Forum in Davos; the Clinton Global Initiative; the Middle East Peace Summit in Jordan; the Dalian Economic Summit in China; and the signature of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Marrakech.
He is also the Chairman of Columbia University''s Center on Capitalism and Society; formed in 2002 to study the workings of well-functioning modern economies, understand how these economies got their dynamism, and how this dynamism impacts employment, among other topics.
www.richardattiasassociates.com
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Contacts:
New York Forum
Mary Sullivan, 212-279-3115 ext. 114