Big mission for a global connector

Gabon plays host to development forum for world's business leaders and politicians

Richard Attias, founder of the New York Forum, likes to compare his native Moroccan culture to the Chinese one. He finds similarities in both cultures, including people's work ethic, hospitality and willingness to make things happen.

Every time he visits China, he feels it more.

"It is a country with promising and passionate young entrepreneurs and a country with doers who always deliver. It is a country that has a vision and implements that vision quickly."

Attias, 53, trained as a civil engineer in France and worked in sales for IBM before he started Global Event Management in 1990. He co-managed the World Economic Forum in Davos for 13 years, setting up Richard Attias and Associates in 2009, a global communication and strategic consulting company with offices in New York, Paris, Rabat and Dubai.

As a global connector who has made his name in producing international summits and conferences, Attias has set a new mission for himself after Davos with the New York Forum. He wants to use the forum to connect the world's elite so they can put their heads together to solve global issues.

Last year, Attias brought it to Africa for the first time, and it returns for the second meeting, again held in Libreville, Gabon over three days from June 14.

The second edition, says Attias, is to "transform opportunities into realities" by bringing together more than 600 participants, including investors and politicians from around the world and African leaders.

"I will not let my guests leave the conference room without an action plan, without a concrete road map and without proposing solutions to the economic issues the world is facing - especially the major economic issues in Africa," he says.

Attias focuses on the "core-to-action" approach of producing these conferences, "We don't just want people to come and talk. We want people to commit, to be engaged and to find solutions to the major issues the global economy is facing."

China has a crucial role to play in these global forums, says Attias, who has a couple of thousand global CEOs in his network garnered from the 3,000-or-so events he has produced.

In his New York Forum conference in Manhattan each summer, regular speakers include Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former UBS Americas chairman Robert Wolf, who served on US President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

The forum has also hosted Chinese business leaders such as Feng Lun, chairman of Vantone Holdings, and Wang Shi, founder and chairman of China Vanke, both major players in China's real estate industry.

The Moroccan-born entrepreneur welcomes Chinese participants, whose presence at his events is increasing. There was a large delegation of them at the Gabon forum last year, and similar is expected this year.

Attias first went to China in the 1980s and has witnessed the country's transformation, noting how Beijing streets went from streams of millions of bicycles to ones of luxury car brands, and seeing the growing middle-class share Shanghai and other major cities with tens of thousands of foreign expats.

"China is not just an economic power, today it is an influential leader on the global map," Attias says.

Attias took the World Economic Forum to China for the first time in 2007, held in Dalian in the northeast, and was involved in the organization of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

He says he is impressed by the ability of Chinese business people to deliver and by how they are helping to make a difference in Africa.

"They deliver in many areas, not just in construction and natural resources. I see partnerships in infrastructure, in mining and energy, and also in vocational training, in aviation, and in healthcare."

He is impressed by Chinese business leaders' ability to communicate in English, their education and by the growing number of women executives.

"I see more and more Chinese participants engaging in discussions about new environmental and green technology, because they are more concerned about issues in society. It is not just about doing business anymore; it is about building a better world."

Despite some Western criticism of increasing Chinese investment in Africa, Attias says he sees potential for joint ventures between Chinese, European and US firms.

"Together they would bring different expertise, including financing and technology transfer. Today we live in a world of partnerships."

There are now more than 1,600 Chinese development finance projects worth $75 billion in more than 50 African countries. Most Chinese investment is in health, education, transport and storage sectors.

During a recent visit to Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed the offer of $20 billion in loans to African countries for the next three years. China will also train 30,000 African professionals and offer 18,000 scholarships to African students.

Bringing the forum to Africa, on the one hand, is to help businesses to land opportunities, but on the other, Attias says he wants the forum to explore ways to help solve youth unemployment in the continent.

Youth in Africa accounts for 60 percent of all African unemployed.

"That is why the infrastructure projects, such as those the Chinese invested in, are important to help create jobs," says Attias, adding that greater employment will also help promote stability in Africa.

"It is our duty and responsibility as entrepreneurs to definitely focus on how we can reinvent a world with new business models to create opportunities for the youth. We cannot have a society where our kids are excluded."

The action plan from the forum will be presented to the G8 summit in Ireland following the Gabon conference.

yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/14/2013 page8)