The fourth annual Global Competitiveness Forum convened as the global economy appeared to be recovering from one of the greatest economic challenges of our time. The conference’s theme, “Sustainable Competitiveness”, summarized the outcomes of the recession and provided a productive approach to the challenges ahead. How could management prevent a future crisis? Did governments react appropriately? How could we move forward by increasing regulation to prevent another crisis, while ensuring regulation did not stifle competitiveness?
To answer these questions, the world’s premier gathering on competitiveness challenges was joined by global leaders, executives, and intellectuals with visionary perspectives on how to link the competitiveness agenda to a far-reaching concern with sustainability and social responsibility. The insights that emerged were a testament to the growth and global scale of the GCF 2010.
The Forum featured speeches from business leaders, including GE’s Jeffrey Immelt, Cisco’s John Chambers, Michael Dell, and Paul Polman of Unilever. Saudi leaders HE Dr. Ibrahim Al Assaf and HE Dr. Mohammad Al-Jasser brought the Saudi perspective on the global crisis. Finally, the Forum was closed by Jeffrey Immelt, who discussed a number of specific recommendations on remaining sustainably competitive, both for companies and nations.
The key takeaway from the Forum was that to deliver sustainable prosperity, capitalism must be attentive to the social, environmental, political, and financial systems with which it is intertwined. In addition to tackling issues of Sustainable Competitiveness, the fourth annual GCF hosted a number of events that created networking opportunities and drove international media attention. On every evening during the Forum, SAGIA hosted a gala dinner that featured one of its initiatives. The initiatives at the Forum were the second annual Saudi Fast Growth 100, the Michael Porter Prize, and the Saudi Arabian Responsible Competitiveness Index, as well as the launch of the CEO 100. Additionally, there were daily book signings that featured many of the speakers at the Forum, as well as an art exhibition that put the spotlight on Saudi artists. Finally, there were special media sessions with Bloomberg and CNN filmed at the Forum.