THE INSIGHT BUREAU PTE - Key Persons
Ambassador Curtis Chin is an internationally respected figure with broad exposure to Asian affairs. He was recently appointed to be a business executive and public policy thought leader, as the Milken Institute's first Asia Center, based in Singapore.
He has served as a trustee of World Education Services of New York and is a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank. Curtis is a valued commentator on Asian emerging markets and U.S.-Asia economic and political relations. From White House intern (in the Regan Administration) through to his bipartisan service as one of the highest-ranking Asian-Americans in U.S. government, Curtis Chin's career has covered economic and development issues in the public and private sectors as well as non-for-profit entities.
Curtis was a member of the international affairs teams at the U.S. Treasury Department, under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama (2007-2010) during one of the world's most challenging economic times. He was only the fourth ever U.S. ambassador of Chinese heritage.
It was his tenure at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) where Curtis helped lead a call for critical reforms toward more "responsible development", focused on "People, Planet and Partnership", that led Curtis to create the acronym "The Little BRIC," referring not to a grouping of nations, but to the Bureaucracy, Regulation, Interventionism and Corruption which he argues represents the biggest constraints to economic growth and poses a real threat to institutions and to commercial progress across all industry sectors.
Since leaving the ADB, Curtis has been a Senior Fellow and Executive-in-Residence based at the CSR Asia Center at the Asian Institute of Technology, and continues to advise a range of non-profit organizations and emerging ventures on Board development and start-up issues. He is a Managing Director with the River Peak Group LLC, and a Board member of CFSI and World Education Services.
He is a regular contributor to global publications including the Bangkok Post, Japan Times, The Nation, The New York Times, Project Syndicate, South China Morning Post and amongst many others and can also be viewed on BBC, Bloomberg TV, CNBC and other media outlets.
Ambassador Chin is a regular speaker on corporate social responsibility and is an advocate for good governance, public-private partnerships and development based on "people, planet and partnership". He presents to conferences, client forums and provides advisory briefings to corporate meetings and Board meetings. He speaks on;
Curtis Chin graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a BSJ in Journalism with a department major in Economics, and gained his Master's in Public and Private Management / MBA from the Yale School of Management, Yale University. He enjoyed a 20 year career with global Public Affairs firm, Burson-Marsteller, working in Beijing, Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. He currently splits his time between Asia and the United States.
"[Curtis's] keen understanding of world affairs and manner of explanation provided [our Asia leadership team] a more profound appreciation of the world as it cross blends into public and private partnerships in Asia particularly. In summary, [Curtis was] an engaging, incredibly knowledgeable, passionate, thought provoking and witty speaker, of the highest caliber."
The Insight Bureau is quite a unique organisation; it is an agency that represents top level professional speakers exclusively in the area of economics and business.
We help organisations and the individuals who lead them, to think about the world, to make better sense of developments, to make smarter decisions and to engage more meaningfully with their stakeholders; i.e. clients, customers, business partners and employees.
The Insight Bureau is much more than just a booking service: it understands how organisations are increasingly looking for more personalised solutions, always seeking timely answers to burning questions and striving to create more tailored approaches to reaching their customers. Event organisers look to deliver very strong content and a memorable experience for participants to set them apart from all the rest. Business leaders thinking about their company's future find an abundance of information and data, yet it's the interpretation of all this and what it means to them that equates to real business intelligence, which can then create a competitive advantage.
The Insight Bureau was founded by Andrew Vine, who has worked virtually his entire career in the Asia Pacific region, a veteran in developing advisory businesses and client programmes. He spent 13 years based in Singapore with The Economist Group where he developed CEO peer group forums, Government Roundtables and other international business conferences as well as custom thought leadership programmes within the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Job Titles:
- President, MarketingSherpa, a Division of MEC Labs
Job Titles:
- Founder and Director of the Colin James Method
Colin James is the founder and director of The Colin James Method. He is a facilitator, coach, moderator and professional speaker, supporting senior managers in executive leadership and employee engaement. He has garnered over 30 years of experience as an educator, speaker and facilitator to become a master of the art of communication, and is currently authoring a book on his experiences. Colin delivers standing-ovation inducing keynotes, facilitates profoundly engaging workshops, producing inspiring, memorable and impactful sessions. He is not the conventional 'motivational' speaker type -- platitudes and the usual sound bites and tired hyperbole is not what he does - yet his keynotes are deeply engaging, peppered with a good dose of humour, both challenge and provoke his audiences, and deliver practical insights. Colin believes to run the organization of the future, we must shift the way people connect; from presentation design to influential communication delivery. He aims totransform the way leaders, and the people around them, think, feel and behave.
Colin James presents to conferences, business associations, and to corporate leadership development sessions. Colin is also a master moderator, MC and event chairman.
He takes a consultative approach to craft each presentation, drawing from the following topics:
The Professional Employee - 10 rules the employee of the future will follow
Followership
Beyond PowerPoint - Making any presentation brilliant
The Engagement Myth - not easy but eminently possible
Managing the change game - the secret of making change easier
Storytelling as a Career Building Tool
Making the 'Impossible' possible
The Skill of Confidence - Lizard management strategies
"Colin brings a level of depth and engagement I have never experienced before in my 24 years in business - brilliant." .
David Lim has a decade of experience delivering solutions in negotiation, leadership and team leadership skills across 75 cities in 33 countries. He is best known for leading the landmark first Singapore Everest Expedition in 1998, which succeeded in placing two members on the peak. David went on to complete 70 more ascents after overcoming a rare, disabling nerve disorder which resulted from his first Everest expedition.
David has written three books:
Job Titles:
- Economist
- Senior Columnist
David Rennie is a senior columnist with The Economist, based in Beijing. He writes the newspaper's China column, Chaguan, as well as covers related issues in the region, including North Korea, China's Belt and Road Initiative, and key global affairs as they relate to China.
His career at The Economist has seen him report on the European Union from Brussels, on British politics from London, on US politics from Washington DC and now in Beiing where he launched the Chaguan column in September 2018. As an international journalist, he has interviewed numerous prime ministers, political leaders, military commanders and CEOs. One notable achievement was becoming one of the few reporters to have interviewed Donald Trump -- twice as a presidential candidate, once as President. David is a frequent guest on radio and television news programmes. He won the 2010 UACES/Thomson Reuters "Reporting Europe" award.
David has held several other editorial roles with The Economist's including Washington Bureau Chief, Lexington columnist, Political Editor, Bagehot columnist, European Union correspondent and Charlemagne columnist. He held earlier editorial roles with the Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Beijing, Washington DC and Brussels and also with the Spectator magazine and the Evening Standard. He graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in English.
David presents to conferences and business meeting on a wide range to economic or geopolitical topics facing the world, now with a specific focus on China and its role in the global landscape. He has given classes and public lectures on EU affairs at the universities of Harvard and Boston in America, Bristol University in Britain and at the business schools ESCP (Paris) and IE (Madrid).
Dominic Ziegler was previously The Economist's China Correspondent from 1994-2000, based firstly in Hong Kong and subsequently in Beijing. He then returned to London as Finance and Economics Editor in 2001. Before his China posting, he was the Washington Correspondent from 1991-1994, covering Bill Clinton's first years as president. He originally joined the newspaper in 1986 as a financial reporter, becoming Financial Editor in 1990.
He is sought-after as a commentator and is interviewed frequently on radio and television. Assignments include keynote speeches at conferences and investment forums around the world, moderating panel discussions sessions or delivering insightful, more informal dinner talks about Asia and the changes he has witnessed from his many wanderings throughout the region.
Douglas Ramage has more than 25 years of experience in Indonesia and is a well-known analyst, frequent public speaker and media commentator on Indonesian affairs. He works with the business and investment advisory firm, BowerGroup Asia, a premier consultancy providing advice to Fortune 500 companies investing in Indonesia. Douglas is adept at presenting complex Indonesia country risk assessments to company boards and executives in a compelling and understandable manner.
His publications include Indonesia for Indonesians: Can the United States Relate? (co-authored with Murray Hiebert, Center for Strategic and International Studies - 2013); Indonesia as a Normal Country (co-authored with Andrew MacIntyre, Australian Strategic Policy Institute - 2008; A Reformed Indonesia? Australian Financial Review -- 2007; Indonesia in 2006: Democracy First, Good Governance Later (Southeast Asian Affairs - ISAS 2007; Politics in Indonesia: Democracy, Islam and the Ideology of Tolerance (Routledge, London -- 1995 & 1997). He is interviewed regularly for his views on international TV and web.
Sample assignments include keynote presentations to investment and business conferences to highlight the key economic and political developments which are likely to shape Indonesia's next phase of its development. He also provides confidential briefings to senior executives and boards.
Dr Daniel Franklin is a writer, editor and commentator on the world's political, economic and business developments. He has spent over 25 years observing, analyzing and forecasting global economic developments and interpreting the impact of political and economic forces on business.
He served successively as The Economist Europe Editor, Britain Editor and Washington Bureau Chief before spending a decade as Editorial Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit where he directed editorial operations in London, Vienna, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.
In July 2006 he became Executive Editor of The Economist and spent a period as the Business Affairs Editor looking after the "back-end" of The Economist newspaper. He also spent a period as editor of economist.com.
Since 2003 he has also been Editor of The World in., an annual yearbook of global predictions published by The Economist. Daniel has contributed to a wide range of Economist Group publications including The Economist itself and various Economist Intelligence Unit country reports and forecasts. He has since co-edited two important books: MegaChange: The World in 2050 and MegaTech: Technology in 2050.
Daniel is extraordinarily popular as a speaker at event and especially in client forums where he speaks in front of, or moderates top level discussion with senior business leaders. He is also an experienced broadcaster on radio and television, e.g. BBC, CNBC and CNN. He often delivers speeches on global economic and political issues, or delivers strategic level briefings which usually focus on the global economic environment and the global business outlook.
Dr. Anil K. Gupta is a thought leader in business strategy, globalization, innovation and entrepreneurship. He is the Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy, Globalization and Entrepreneurship and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the Smith School of Business, The University of Maryland. He serves as Chief Advisor to The China India Institute, a Washington DC-based research and consulting organization. He is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, China and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and has earlier served as a Chaired Professor in Strategy at INSEAD and a visiting professor at Stanford University and Dartmouth College.
He is a member of the World Economic Forum's Stewardship Committee for the Initiative on the Future of Consumption, the Bretton Woods Committee set up by the World Bank and IMF to advise them on solutions to global challenges, and the CNBC Disruptor 50 Advisory Council.
Ranked by Thinkers50 as one of the "world's most influential management thinkers," he has also been named by The Economist as one of the world's "superstars" for research on emerging markets in a cover story on "Innovation in Emerging Economies." He is one of only three professors in the world to have been elected as a Lifetime Fellow of the prestigious Academy of Management, Strategic Management Society, and Academy of International Business. He is the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Educator Award from the Academy of Management for worldwide contribution to research, practice, and teaching on the topic of globalization.
Anil Gupta is a prolific business writer, author of several books: The Silk Road Rediscovered (Wiley 2014), Global Strategies for Emerging Markets (Wiley 2012), Getting China and India Right (Wiley 2009), The Quest for Global Dominance (Wiley 2008), Smart Globalization (Wiley 2003), and Global Strategy & Organization (Wiley 2003). Getting China and India Right received the 2009 Axiom Book Awards' Silver Prize as one of the world's two best books on globalization and was short-listed for the Asia Society's Annual Bernard Schwartz Book Award.He has written over 70 papers in leading academic journals and has been inducted into the Academy of Management Journals' Hall of Fame.
Anil serves regularly as a speaker at major conferences and corporate forums in the US, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa -including the World Economic Forum, Economist conferences, Chief Executive magazine's CEO2CEO Summits, and the Yale CEO Summit.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and CEO of ADDO AI
Dr. Ayesha Khanna is Co-Founder and CEO of ADDO AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) solutions firm and incubator. She has been a strategic advisor on artificial intelligence, smart cities and fintech to leading corporations and governments. Ayesha serves on the Board of Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the Singapore government's agency that develops its world-class technology sector to drive the country's digital economy and power its Smart Nation vision. Ayesha is also a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Media, Entertainment, and Culture, a community of international experts who provide thought leadership on the impact and governance of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
In 2017, ADDO AI was featured in Forbes magazine as one of four leading artificial intelligence companies in Asia and Ayesha was named one of South East Asia's groundbreaking female entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine in 2018.
Ayesha has been named one of Singapore's leading female entrepreneurs and a leading Asian fintech influencer by Fintech Asia. She also served on the Singapore Ministry of Education's Steering Committee on future skills and applied learning for emerging industries.
Ayesha is author of Straight Through Processing (2008) and co-author of Hybrid Reality: Thriving in the Emerging Human-Technology Civilization (2012). She has been published and quoted on technology, innovation and smart cities in The New York Times, BusinessWeek, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Strategy+Business, and Foreign Policy. She has presented at major financial, technology and other industry conferences, provided high level government briefings, chaired symposiums such as AI Asia, and spoken at TEDx events.
She holds a BA (Honors) in Economics from Harvard University, an MS in Operations Research from Columbia University and is currently completing a PhD on urban information infrastructures at the London School of Economics.
Dr. Daniel Thorniley is the author of three books, including one on Russia. He is a regular contributor to print media including Time, East European Newsletter, Foreign Report, Moscow Times and is featured regularly on television: BBC, CNN, Channel Four (UK), CNBC.
He is invited by clients across the world as a regular speaker on global business trends, business operations, emerging markets and corporate best practice and retained by some of the world's largest corporations both as an advisor and presenter. Danny is regularly invited to talk to CEOs and corporate boards and has worked with most of the world's major MNCs.
Dr. Thorniley has briefed the Chief Executives, Chairmen and Boards of major global organisations, including ABN Amro Bank, Accenture, Baker & McKenzie, Boots International, and many others. He has also been invited to address NATO, The United Nations and various governments including the Russian and the UK Governments.
"Danny Thorniley is a remarkable public speaker -- knowledgeable, insightful, provocative and very funny. He is very worth listening to. I also find his position papers extremely useful in global analysis. As I have told Danny, I wish he had been working for me as a personal adviser when I was Prime Minister".
Dr. Schutte is now Dean Emeritus at INSEAD in Singapore. He was previously Distinguished Professor of Management at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and was formerly Dean of INSEAD's Singapore Campus 2002-2006 with 40 full-time resident professors, 300 MBA students and over 2,500 executive education students a year. Before this, he was Associate Dean for Executive Education in Asia 1993-2002, 1992-93 he was a visiting professor at Boston University and visiting scholar at Harvard University, 1989-90 visiting professor at the University of Tokyo and originally joined the INSEAD faculty in 1981.
Edward Carr is a highly-respected writer and commentator on global strategic affairs and business and is based in London with the leading weekly international newspaper, The Economist. He currently provides the editorial leadership for The Economist on international affairs, and is uniquely placed to relate these topics to reflect the implications for international business - he has the wealth of experience of previously being Foreign Editor, Business Affairs Editor (covering science, technology, industry and finance and various other portfolios. He was also previously the Editorial Director with oversight of the quarterly magazine Intelligent Life, published by The Economist Group.
Edward speaks and moderates on a wide range of issues including international strategic affairs, business, industry and trade as well as energy, climate change and the environment.
He has carried out numerous live and recorded radio and television appearances over the years and is occasionally invited to co-host CNBC's Squawk Box, once hosting with guests Jack Welch and Charles Elson featuring a discussion about executive pay. He regularly chairs seminars and debates for Economist Conferences and other top level events.
He also engages in client events, where he presents or moderates at customer forums - e.g. McKinsey Global Leadership Conference, or for organisations' internal strategy sessions.
As Deputy Editor of The Economist, has editorial responsibility across the entire print side of the newspaper. During his journalist career, which saw him first join The Economist as science correspondent in 1987 and then go to Paris to write on European business, he briefly left The Economist in 2000 to write for the Financial Times where he worked as foreign news editor, and then as the news editor overseeing the front page and the newspaper's news operation.
Edward studied Science at Cambridge University, winning The Bronowski Prize for his work on 18th Century French Chemistry.
Graeme Maxton is a business economist, best-selling author and a Member of the Club of Rome, where until recently he served as its Secretary-General. He is the author of Reinventing Prosperity; managing economic growth to reduce unemployment, inequality and climate change (German edition Ein Prozent ist genug)" (2016) and "The End of Progress; how modern economics has failed us" (2011) which became an international best seller and has been translated into several languages.
The Club of Rome is a global network of 100 renowned independent thinkeGraeme Maxton provides unique insight into the greatest challenges humanity faces. He believes modern economics has failed us and that we are facing the end of sustainable growth.
Graeme is a leading global climate change economist and UNECE Pathways Project Advisory Board Member. From 2014-18 he was Secretary-General of the Club of Rome, a global network of 100 renowned independent thinkers dedicated to addressing the problems facing humanity. He was previously regional director of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Asia, with Booz & Co, Citigroup and American Express, and was a visiting professor at Cass Business School from 1988 to 2002.
He is the author or co-author of five books and contributes regularly to a wide range of online and print publications. His latest book, Change! Warum wir eine radikale Wende brauchen (why we need a radical turnaround), was published in 2018 and was No.1 best-selling environmental book on Amazon in Germany. A trenchant critic of modern economic thinking, Graeme is the co-author of Reinventing Prosperity: Managing economic growth to reduce unemployment, inequality and climate change (2016), Graeme is also the sole author of The End of Progress: How modern economics has failed us (2011), which was nominated for the FT's Best Book about Business Award and has been translated into Chinese, Czech, Romanian, and German. It was a top-20 Spiegel best-seller. He is currently working on a new book, Global Emergency: why democracy has reached its limits, which will be published in early 2020.
As well as contributing articles to a wide range of international newspapers, journals, and magazines, he is also the co-author of two books on the automotive industry, Time for a Model Change (2004), which was Cambridge University Press' Feature Book of the Year, and Driving Over a Cliff (1995), which was nominated for the FT's Best Book about Business Award.
Graeme engages with a wide range of institutions around the world and presents and facilitates dialogue on the world economy, global business and Asia. Well-known for his insights, stimulating presentations and event-chairing style, he delivers punchy, clearly articulated analysis on the opportunities and risks that lie ahead.
Graeme is a powerful and engaging speaker, and a naturally skilled moderator. He presents at international business forums around the world, and provides strategic briefings to boards and senior management meetings for international companies.
"Maxton is a thinker of astonishing depth and breadth, one to speak the tough truths that many other academics, politicians and commentators avoid."
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner of Vriens & Partners
Hans Vriens is the founding partner of Vriens & Partners, based in Singapore, and is a leading expert on Asia's political developments, having lived and worked in the region for the last 19 years. He has been counsel to chief executives and board members on market entry strategy, regulatory issues and sensitive issues across Asia. He is particularly experienced in Southeast Asia, China and India. Vriens & Partners is the only premier boutique advisory services firm headquartered in Singapore that assists multinational companies, governments and not-for-profits organisations with counsel on key political developments and public policy issues around Asia.
Before establishing Vriens & Partners Hans was Vice Chairman, Asia at APCO Worldwide, overseeing the firm's expansion in Southeast Asia. Prior to this was their head for the Indonesia practice for six years. Before joining APCO in April 1998, he worked as a political economist at the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Hong Kong. He previously practiced law at Clifford Chance and was the Asia correspondent for a leading Dutch financial and economic daily.
Hans frequently provides background briefings to visiting executives to help them understand political, economic, cultural and business developments in the region. He is able to provide a unique and frank analysis thanks to many research and consultancy projects he led for leading multinationals and governments around Asia over the last 11 years. He has is also often asked to chair strategy sessions to help companies think through their strategic options in Asia. Hans has considerable experience with Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, China and India.
He is a regular commentator on Asia issues on CNBC and Bloomberg. He has published many articles about Asia in the Asian Wall Street Journal, Asia Inc, the Jakarta Post and other regional publications.
He graduated from law school in civil and constitutional law at Groningen University in the Netherlands and his post-graduate studies were in Italy at the Bologna Center of the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.
James Taylor's life mission is to unlock the creative potential in one billion people. For over 20 years, he has been advising CEO's, entrepreneurs, educators, governments and leaders from Silicon Valley to Singapore on how to build innovative organizations, unlock creative potential, and increase productivity. As an entrepreneur, he started his first business at age 17, and went on to launch, build and sell businesses in the entertainment, publishing, technology and education industries in both Europe and USA. An entrepreneur with a global outlook he has lived and worked in San Francisco Bay Area, Vancouver, London, Scotland, Italy and Asia. He was awarded the S.D. Southern Prize from Canadian energy services company ATCO and named 'ONTRApreneur of the Year' from U.S. business and marketing automation leaders ONTRAPORT. James is above all a creativity expert: through his writing, podcast show and YouTube series, he's taught hundreds of thousands of individuals in over 120 countries about the art and science of creativity. He is also the founder of C.SCHOOL™ and hosts various global summits. He is also an advisor & Business Coach. James has a passion for helping companies, business owners, entrepreneurs and rock stars launch and build innovative products and services. In addition to advising several multinational companies he also coaches a small number of entrepreneurs, thought leaders, executives and professionals on business strategy, innovation and marketing. He is currently writing a book which will come out in 2020 entitled, "Augmented Creativity: Becoming SuperCreative in the Age of Artificial Intelligence".
In his tailored, entertaining and highly visual keynotes, James Taylor takes the audience on a journey to discover the backstage secrets of the world's most creative individuals and innovative organizations. Blending inspiring stories, cutting-edge research, and actionable takeaways, he shows how any individual or organization can dramatically increase productivity and innovate by augmenting their human creativity using artificial intelligence. James has spoken at conferences across North America, Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East, presenting inspiring keynotes at conferences for business associations, conferences, and client events. He also presents internally or corporate leadership development offsite meetings. Sample presentation topics include;
Job Titles:
- Head of Meeting Innovation, Meeting Professionals International
"James Taylor was a fantastic keynote speaker. His presentation was an insightful and entertaining closing keynote for the event audience. James also hosted a small group presentation for the G3 Company Sales Meeting earlier in the year that was also great. If you are looking for a speaker to inspire your employees to "reclaim their creativity" look no further than James Taylor."
Jim Rogers is an American businessman and financial commentator based in Singapore. He was the co-founder Soros Fund Management and The Quantum Fund, in the 1970s which made a 4200% return over ten years at a time when the S&P gained only 47%. Jim decided to 'retire' at the age of 37, but remained very active as a private investor and adventurer. Rogers is also the creator of the Rogers International Commodity Index (RICI) and is now the Chairman of Beeland Interests, Inc. and Rogers Holdings.
From 1990-92, Jim set out to fulfil a lifelong dream: motorcycling 100,000 miles across six continents - an achievement that landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 1999, Jim embarked on a Millennium Adventure, travelling around the world for 3 years, passing through 116 countries and covering more than 245,000 kilometres - setting yet another Guinness World Record in the process. His adventures were not just travel per se but journeys to learn about the world's developing countries and investment markets first-hand; as a private investor he constantly analysed countries through which he travelled for investment ideas, striving to get to the heart of what drives successful nations and economies.
Jim is the author of six books: Investment Biker (1994); Adventure Capitalist (2003); Hot Commodities (2005); A Bull in China (2007), A Gift to My Children (2009) and Street Smarts: Adventures on the Road and in the Markets (2013). He has been frequently featured in Time, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Barron's, Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and many media outlets worldwide. He was moderator of WCBS's "The Dreyfus Roundtable" and FNN's "The Profit Motive with Jim Rogers".
Jim delivers captivating keynote speeches at large business and investment conferences - his presentations are full of both hilarious stories and gems of wisdom.
Jim graduated from Yale University and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.
John Andrews is a veteran political journalist and author. He is a senior editor for Project Syndicate and a contributing editor for The Economist, the prestigious weekly newspaper. In his role as conference chairman for a variety of international conferences, and the TV interviewer for the annual World Policy Conference, he regularly interacts with prominent figures in politics, business and economics; e.g. Jean-Claude Trichet, former governor of the European Central Bank; Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency; Lionel Zinsou, prime minister of Benin; Alassane Ouattara, president of Côte d'Ivoire; Mario Monti, former prime minister of Italy; and Elisabeth Guigou, president of the foreign affairs commission of France's Assemblée Nationale.
He is the author of a new book entitled The World in Conflict: understanding the world's troublespots, a comprehensive and penetrating analysis of present-day war and terrorism published by Profile Books under The Economist imprint. He is also the co-editor of Megachange: The World in 2050, which examines the key developments that will determine our future.
As well as being, for many years, one of The Economist's most experienced foreign correspondents, he co-edited its annual forward-looking magazine, The World in magazine. Over the course of his 25-year career with The Economist, he was been Deputy Editor of The World-in, West Coast Editor in the USA, Paris Bureau Chief, Washington Correspondent, EU Correspondent, Asia Editor, China Editor, Southeast Asia Editor and Industry Editor, making him one of The Economist's most respected names. John has covered the world's emerging markets, including China, Hong Kong and South East -Asia and therefore written and commented on a host of key events that have unfolded over the years, bearing witness to the rise of the Asian economies and key events in the Asian region, like the tragic events of Tiananmen Square. Prior to The Economist, he was a journalist with The Guardian and based in Beirut with NBC covering the Middle East region.
John Andrews speaks at a range of business conferences and economic gatherings. These have included The Milken Institute Global Conference, International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) as well as numerous events run by Economist Conferences. He graduated in Classical and Modern Arabic from Cambridge University and speaks fluent Arabic and French and is based in the United Kingdom and France.
John Hooper is currently the Rome correspondent of The Economist. He is also an award-winning author. His latest book, The Italians, has appeared in best-seller lists on both sides of the Atlantic, and a previous work, The Spaniards, won the Allen Lane Award for a best first work of non-fiction. It has since twice been updated as The New Spaniards, most recently in 2006.
John is a veteran journalist and former broadcaster who has more than three decades reporting for leading media organisations; the Guardian, The Economist, the Observer, the BBC, and NBC. At the age of only eighteen, he travelled to Biafra during the Nigerian civil war to make a television documentary, and that set the tone for his illustrious journalistic career. He has now reported from more than 30 countries, including various war zones - most recently Kosovo and Afghanistan. He developed a special affection for Spain and its people after being posted to Madrid to cover the country's eventful transition to democracy, and later returned. Today, he is a permanent resident of Rome and a respected member of the international media industry.
John Hooper is regularly asked to provide corporate briefings on the political and economic shifts in Europe, the recent Euro Crisis and its impact on Southern Europe, the ever-changing political scene in Italy and key developments affecting Spain. He is frequently called upon to be the chairman and expert moderator of high level business and investment conferences and other international forums, mainly in Italy, Spain and London. Equally, he is often a speaker at international conferences charged with setting the geopolitical and economic scene as a backdrop for the discussions about to take place over the remainder of the conference.
He first worked for the BBC as a current affairs journalist. In 1973, he became the Diplomatic Correspondent for Independent Radio News. He went to Cyprus following the Turkish invasion to be a freelance reporter for the BBC, the Guardian, The Economist, and NBC. Following the death of General Franco, he went to Spain to be the Guardian's Madrid Correspondent. He returned to London where he continued to work for the Guardian. He later joined the BBC World Service where he presented the news programme, "Twenty Four Hours". He returned to Madrid in 1988 to be a freelance reporter for The Economist, the Guardian and the Observer, covering Spain, Portugal and the Maghreb region. In 1994, he was posted to Rome as Southern Europe Correspondent for the Guardian and subsequently The Observer. From 1999 to 2003, he was the Guardian and Observer's Central Europe Correspondent, based in Berlin including a time in 2001 when he reported from Afghanistan later in 2001 on the end of the battle of Tora Bora and the defeat of al-Qaida. In 2005, he moved to Italy where he lives and works today, based in Rome. He continues to write as a freelance columnist, as both Italy correspondent for The Economist and as Southern Europe correspondent for the Guardian.
John holds a degree in history from St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, and is based in Rome.
Jorgen Randers has spent a third of his life in academia, a third in business and a third in NGOs. In the commercial world, he has been chairman of three banks and today is a non-executive member of several corporate boards in Norway, including the state-owned Postal Service. He also sits on the sustainability council of Dow Chemical in the US, and Astra Zeneca in the UK.
He has written a number of books and scientific papers. He co-authored "The Limits to Growth" in 1972 and its sequels in 1992 and 2004. In 2012 he published "2052 - A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years", which is now available in 8 languages in 150.000 copies. "Reinventing Prosperity", Jorgen's latest book on how to solve the problems of unemployment, inequality and climate change, was written with Graeme Maxton and was published in 2016.
Dr Randers is an advisor to various corporate and governmental institutions and speaks on this topic around the world. He is a highly sought-after speaker, engaging in over 65 engagements a year all over the world, as an expert in field of climate change and sustainability, demographics and forecasting our future and the challenges facing humanity. He has worked with the boards of numerous international corporations including BT, Dow Chemical, Allianz Asset Management, Shell International, Arup, Munich Re, BHP Billiton, KPMG and many others.
He presents on:
The Future of the World - 2052
Why our Planet will not reach 9 billion
The Green Economy of the Future
Global Megatrends
The Limits to Growth - A 50-year Perspective
Joseph Stiglitz is one of the most frequently cited economists in the world and is one of the most sought-after thinkers about the future of the world economy.
Professor Stiglitz is Professor of Economics at Columbia University. He is also the Chief Economist of the Roosevelt Institute and founder and Co-President of the university's Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD). He is best known for helping to create a new branch of economics known as the "Economics of Information", exploring the consequences of information asymmetries and pioneering such pivotal concepts as adverse selection and moral hazard, which today have become standard tools.
He is the author of a number of bestseller books, amongst the most celebrated are Globalization and Its Discontents (2002), which sold over one million copies worldwide, The Roaring Nineties, with Bruce Greenwald (2003), Fair Trade For All, with Andrew Charlton (2003), and Making Globalization Work (2006). In 2008, he co-wrote the book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, with Linda Bilmes of Harvard University, and his latest books Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump (2017) and People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent (2019). His op-eds and articles frequently appear in the Financial Times, Newsweek and other publications.
He is the author of a number of bestseller books, amongst the most celebrated are Globalization and Its Discontents (2002), which sold over one million copies worldwide, The Roaring Nineties, with Bruce Greenwald (2003), Fair Trade For All, with Andrew Charlton (2003), and Making Globalization Work (2006). In 2008, he co-wrote the book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, with Linda Bilmes of Harvard University, and his latest book is Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy (2010). His op-eds and articles frequently appear in the Financial Times, Newsweek and other publications.
Joseph Stiglitz delivers keynote addresses at major business conferences and government-sector summits around the world, as well as providing briefings to boards of major multinational organisations. He offers in-depth analysis of the world's current economic climate. His insights and forecasts are honest and untainted by ulterior motives and he is prepared to take sometimes unpopular positions where he holds such opinions. His speeches often cover topics such as the future of the world economy, the aftermath of the financial crisis, globalisation and the developing world.
The Independent newspaper hailed Joseph Stiglitz as the "biggest brain in economics" (2010)
Newsweek called Joseph Stiglitz an "economic prophet that Washington had been ignoring"' (2010)
Keshini Navaratnam is a familiar face to many people around the world as a longtime BBC World TV News anchor and a senior news and current affairs editor and foreign affairs adviser at BBC World Service Radio. She has covered the major news events of the past few years and conflicts ranging from the Gulf War to Chechnya, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria, natural disasters including the tsunami, and terrorist attacks including the Bali bombings, 9/11 and 7/7.
She has also moderated, spoken and advised at a range of top international conference discussions for the UN, Commonwealth, EU and various global industries ranging from diamonds, oil and gas, banking, investment and international travel and tourism. An experienced participant on the global and UK stage, Keshini has worked with governments and international organisations, and British government departments including the FCO and MOD, and is in close contact with many global diplomats, international statesmen, politicians and senior military officers. She is also the chair of the panel of judges for the Commonwealth Vision Awards, the annual film awards for the 54 countries of the Commonwealth.
In her role as CEO of Alexandrite she has personally advised and interacted with a number of top international politicians, ambassadors and international organisations, and senior military figures and has close high-level links to the UN, Commonwealth and European Union and range of British institutions.
Keshini was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and has extensive expertise in international affairs and a range of key global issues. She has many insights into the international world and first-hand knowledge of a number of regions including the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. She has interviewed numerous statesmen, top international politicians, business leaders, writers, sporting figures. As an established face on the international stage, she has close contacts with a number of prominent international personalities, including Mikhail Gorbachev, British and foreign governmental figures and numerous senioKeshini was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and has extensive expertise in international affairs and a range of key global issues. She has many insights into the international world and first-hand knowledge of a number of regions including the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. She has interviewed numerous statesmen, top international politicians, business leaders, writers, sporting figures. As an established face on the international stage, she has close contacts with a number of prominent international personalities, including Mikhail Gorbachev, British and foreign governmental figures and numerous senior diplomats across the globe including in the UN and EU.r diplomats across the globe including in the UN and EU.
She began her media and foreign affairs career as a journalist and producer on BBC World Service Radio's flagship news programmes, covering such landmark events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the release of Nelson Mandela, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first Gulf war. She has a master's degree in Modern and Medieval Languages (Russian, Czech and Slovak) from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, where she was a Scholar and award winner of the John Frederick Stopp prize for Modern Languages.
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- Events & Marketing Director, B2B Marketing Exchange Conference
"James was one of my all-time favorite speakers. He has an unusually broad understanding of how to build a business. James is the total package. I look forward to hearing him speak again someday soon."