Evian Group XII Plenary Meeting: Long-Term Ethical Strategy Key To Sustainable Capitalism
06 Nov 2007Business leaders, academics and officials called on all sectors and governments to adapt long-term ethical strategies to ensure globalization is sustainable during the XII Evian Plenary Meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, held on November 2-3.
The Evian Group at IMD is a coalition of top stakeholders who lobby for a strong multilateral and liberal order in our current age of global interdependence.
Along with the annual Plenary, the Evian Group convenes year-round meetings throughout the world with a particularly strong emphasis on emerging markets. The topic of this year’s plenary surfaced from the conclusion drawn from previous meetings that without a stronger ethical base, globalization could fail.
“A very grave underpinning danger of the global market economy has been a lethal combination of rising inequalities and environmental degradation coupled with the widely held assumption that global capitalism is immoral,” said Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Evian Group Founder and IMD Professor of International Political Economy. “Thus the need for this topic of sustainable capitalism to be on the agenda.”
Helmut Maucher, Nestlé’s former CEO and Chairman of the Board, outlined the challenges and opportunities for industrialized and developing nations as well as businesses and international organizations during his address.
“The ethical imperative will only work if states and companies are convinced of the long term interest,” he said. “It is important that all stakeholders implement long term sustainable policies despite intense short term pressures.”
The meeting focused on environmental resource constraints and social inequalities with the role business could play in the future governance of the world. This encompasses the difficult trade-offs that characterize the immediate compulsions of globalization.
“A millennium of monopoly is being challenged,” said Nayan Chanda, author of the acclaimed book Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventures and Warriors Shaped Globalization.
“Power imbalances, visibility, velocity and volume differentiate present globalization from the past. Steps have to be taken to ensure equity and good governance.”
A strong call was made by participants to strengthen the predictability and equity of the multilateral system. This includes countering the seemingly secular decline of the principle of non-discrimination as a basis of international cooperation and embracing the emergence of new players on the international scene.
Other participants in attendance included Jean-Daniel Gerber, Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Alejandro Jara, Deputy Director General of the WTO, Dhruv Sawhney, Former President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman and CEO of Talal Abu Ghazaleh International, and Rengang Huang, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the WTO.
Selected thematic summaries of the XII Evian Plenary discussions:
- Designing Global Governance for Global Problems
- Evian Debates Double Standards on Migration Policies
- Good Corporate Citizenship and Regulation
The Evian Group
The Evian Group at IMD is an international coalition of corporate, government and opinion leaders, committed to fostering inclusive and sustainable globalization in a rules-based multilateral framework. For more information on the Evian Group go to www.eviangroup.org.
The Evian Group at IMD is a coalition of top stakeholders who lobby for a strong multilateral and liberal order in our current age of global interdependence.
Along with the annual Plenary, the Evian Group convenes year-round meetings throughout the world with a particularly strong emphasis on emerging markets. The topic of this year’s plenary surfaced from the conclusion drawn from previous meetings that without a stronger ethical base, globalization could fail.
“A very grave underpinning danger of the global market economy has been a lethal combination of rising inequalities and environmental degradation coupled with the widely held assumption that global capitalism is immoral,” said Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Evian Group Founder and IMD Professor of International Political Economy. “Thus the need for this topic of sustainable capitalism to be on the agenda.”
Helmut Maucher, Nestlé’s former CEO and Chairman of the Board, outlined the challenges and opportunities for industrialized and developing nations as well as businesses and international organizations during his address.
“The ethical imperative will only work if states and companies are convinced of the long term interest,” he said. “It is important that all stakeholders implement long term sustainable policies despite intense short term pressures.”
The meeting focused on environmental resource constraints and social inequalities with the role business could play in the future governance of the world. This encompasses the difficult trade-offs that characterize the immediate compulsions of globalization.
“A millennium of monopoly is being challenged,” said Nayan Chanda, author of the acclaimed book Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventures and Warriors Shaped Globalization.
“Power imbalances, visibility, velocity and volume differentiate present globalization from the past. Steps have to be taken to ensure equity and good governance.”
A strong call was made by participants to strengthen the predictability and equity of the multilateral system. This includes countering the seemingly secular decline of the principle of non-discrimination as a basis of international cooperation and embracing the emergence of new players on the international scene.
Other participants in attendance included Jean-Daniel Gerber, Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Alejandro Jara, Deputy Director General of the WTO, Dhruv Sawhney, Former President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman and CEO of Talal Abu Ghazaleh International, and Rengang Huang, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the WTO.
Selected thematic summaries of the XII Evian Plenary discussions:
- Designing Global Governance for Global Problems
- Evian Debates Double Standards on Migration Policies
- Good Corporate Citizenship and Regulation
The Evian Group
The Evian Group at IMD is an international coalition of corporate, government and opinion leaders, committed to fostering inclusive and sustainable globalization in a rules-based multilateral framework. For more information on the Evian Group go to www.eviangroup.org.
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