NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled the second annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum's official program and announced new participants including Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and Swiss President Alain Berset.
More than 70 heads of state and delegation from six continents have now committed to attend the Forum making it the largest gathering of heads of state outside a formal government summit in 2018. They will join over 200 of the world's most prominent business leaders to strengthen economic prosperity and collaborate on trade issues, globalization, innovation, and competition. If the companies represented at the Global Business Forum (GBF) were a country, its economy would be the third largest in the world. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, GBF will take place in New York City on September 26th at the Plaza Hotel alongside the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
As tensions around tariffs create economic uncertainty in many industries and countries around the world, the second annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum is the only venue dedicated to encouraging presidents, prime ministers, and CEOs to focus on mutual opportunities to increase trade, investment, and continued growth. The dialogue at GBF will strengthen globalization and be a powerful counterweight to talk of trade wars.
Michael R. Bloomberg will open the morning plenary session where some of the world's most influential heads of state and CEOs will explore the critical role that partnerships between governments and business play in strengthening the global economy. Plenary speakers include United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May; Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez; Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; Former U.S. President Bill Clinton; Robin Li, Baidu Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO; Ginni Rometty, IBM President and CEO; Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission; Jim Hackett, Ford Motor Company CEO; and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund.
Following the plenary session, GBF participants will join a variety of breakout sessions to further explore the themes of the Forum through in-depth discussions on the state of global finance and the future investment outlook; economic migration, changing demographics, and youth employment; and major economic issues in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
The Misk Foundation will host a breakout session devoted to how youth are shaping the global economy with a focus on disrupting to stabilize industry. Participants include Josh Giegel, Virgin Hyperloop One Co-founder and CTO; Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO; Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen Founder and CEO; Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor Global Co-founder and CEO; and Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani CEO. Private roundtables will also be held where government and business leaders can candidly discuss critical challenges and opportunities in digitization, energy, infrastructure, and artificial intelligence as well as coastal resiliency and preservation in the face of climate change.
Special sessions will be taped by Bloomberg TV and CNN, and press briefings and conferences held throughout the day will emphasize how governments and business leaders can partner to ensure continued broad economic growth while overcoming challenges caused by increases in population size, wealth inequality, and climate change.
**The full agenda can be found here.**
Additional featured participants in the Bloomberg Global Business Forum include Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto; New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern; Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari; and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. There will be a robust E.U. delegation including Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission;
Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President for the European Commission; and Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President for the European Commission, along with business leaders such as Carlos Brito, Anheuser-Busch Inbev CEO; Jean-Louis Chaussade, Suez CEO; Roger Ferguson, TIAA President and CEO; Larry Fink, BlackRock Chairman and CEO; Kenneth Griffin, Citadel Founder and CEO; Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank Group; Brian Moynihan, Bank of America Chairman and CEO; Paul Polman, Unilever CEO; Patrick Pouyanné, Total S.A. CEO; Feike Sijbesma, Royal DSM Chairman and CEO; David M. Solomon, Goldman Sachs President and COO; and John Zimmer, Lyft Co-founder and President.
The 2018 GBF partners are Ruth Porat, Alphabet Inc./Google CFO; Robin Li, Baidu Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO; Michael R. Bloomberg, Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies Founder; Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, BNP Paribas CEO; Tidjane Thiam, Credit Suisse CEO; Aliko Dangote, Dangote Group President/Chief Executive; Isabelle Kocher, Engie Global CEO; John Elkann, EXOR Chairman and CEO; Bernard Arnault, LVMH Chairman and CEO; Anand G. Mahindra, Mahindra Group Chairman; His Royal Highness Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Misk Foundation Chairman; and Xin (Shynn) Zhang, SOHO China Founder and CEO.
Recognizing that the race against global warming is a shared responsibility requiring cooperation between governments, leaders from the public and private sectors, and civil society, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, and United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg will host the second One Planet Summit on September 26th from 2:00pm-4:30pm at the Plaza Hotel. The 2018 Summit will review progress made in implementing the 12 international commitments made at the inaugural One Planet event in December 2017 and build trust and collaboration for ongoing multilateral climate action.
Please visit www.BloombergGBF.com for the latest program details. Follow Mike Bloomberg on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and Bloomberg Philanthropies on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter for GBF news and highlights. Please use the official forum hashtag #BloombergGBF.
Members of the media interested in registering to cover these events can visit this link for more information. For additional questions about the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, please email press@BloombergGBF.com.
About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies works in 480 cities in more than 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $702 million. For more information, please visit www.bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.
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