On the morning of Friday, May 7, 2010, Mark C. Medish, visiting scholar and senior adviser of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, led senior government representatives Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation, Christine Lagarde, Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment of France, and Sheikha Lubna Bin Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, in discussing governments’ role in the recent collapse of the banking system.
“We had to obtain extraordinary powers from our respective governments. To just change the course of things, we established a bit of confidence that had been completely destroyed as a result of what? Lack of regulation, excess of greed, excess of liquidity, excess of sophistication, excess in the main that had caused havoc,” said Christine Lagarde. (watch the address)
Moreover, we congratulate Ms. Karin Keller-Sutter, State Counselor of the Canton of St.Gallen, in her election as Vice Chairman to the board of trustees of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies
Information on the first evening and the second morning of the 40th St. Gallen Symposium:
Impulse Addresses & Panel 18:00–19:20
Sanjiv Goenka (IN) Vice-Chairman, RPG Enterprises
Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht (DE) Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE
Dr. Andreas Jacobs (DE) Chairman of the Board, Barry Callebaut AG
Robert Peugot (FR) Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Société Foncière, Financière et de Participations FFP
“The moment there is a recession, we have to almost overreact and really cut costs to survive, which we did. Revenue-wise we went down 30% […]. If you want to compensate for that in a company that has nothing but labor, it is a bloodbath,” said Dr. Andreas Jacobs.
Friday, 7 May 2010 overview of the morning sessions
Chairman’s Statement 8:00–8:10
Mark C. Medish (DK/US) Visiting Scholar, Senior Adviser, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Keynote Address 8:10–8:40
Paul Bulcke (BE), Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé S.A.
“It has been one of the basic principles of Nestlé that whatever we do should bring something to our success. You may call it shareholder value. A company has to be successful to have a future. That is true. […] But whatever you do, wherever you are, it has to create value for society too,” said Paul Bulcke.
Panel 8:40–9:40 –The state is not enough
Doris Leuthard (CH), President of the Swiss Confederation
Christine Lagarde (FR) Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment of France
Sheikha Lubna Bin Khalid Al Qasimi (AE), Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates
“We tried to convince our citizens that open markets and globalization are good for everyone. We profit […]. But people do not feel it. They have the strong feeling that only parts of our society are the winners,” said Doris Leuthard.
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