SESSION SPEAKERS

Dr. Walter SCHWIMMER

CGDC Founder and Vice President
Secretary General of the Council of Europe 1999 – 2004

After being a member of the Austrian Parliament for 28 years, serving as chairperson of several committees (Justice, Health, Housing and Construction) and deputy leader of his political group (ÖVP – Austrian People’s Party), Walter Schwimmer was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Dr. Schwimmer held this post from September 1, 1999 until September 1, 2004.
From 1984 to 1999 Dr. Schwimmer was Executive Vice President of the Wiener Gebietskrankenkasse, the compulsory health insurance system of Vienna.
Dr. Schwimmer is currently working as an advisor to the business, government, and social sector on international relations and other European topics. He is also involved in dialogue between cultures on a voluntary basis as Secretary General of the Maison de la Méditerranée- Fondazione Mediterraneo in Naples, Chairman of the International coordinating committee of the “World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations”, President of the European Democracy Forum in Strassburg.

General Wesley K. CLARK

Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO 1997 – 2000
Businessman and Entrepreneur
CGDC International Board Member

Wesley Kanne Clark graduated as valedictorian of his class at West Point, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford. He obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics there, and later graduated from the Command and General Staff College with a Master’s degree in military science.
During his 34 years of service in the United States Army, Clark rose to the rank of 4-star General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander. He received many military decorations and several honorary knighthoods. In August 2000, Clark was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
In 1994, General Clark was named director for strategic plans and policy of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with responsibilities for worldwide U.S. military strategic planning. It was there that General Clark insisted the Pentagon develops an exit strategy for the 1994 invasion of Haiti. In 1995, General Clark traveled to the Balkans as the military negotiator in a U.S. effort to end the war in Bosnia, playing a vital role in the Dayton peace talks. As Supreme Allied Commander and Commander in Chief of the United States European Command, Clark commanded Operation Allied Force, NATO’s first major combat action, which saved 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
After retiring from the military, Clark joined Stephens Inc. as a consultant in July 2000 and served as Managing Director, Merchant Banking from 2001 to 2003. In early 2003, thousands of Americans launched a campaign to draft Clark to run for President; he announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in September.

Hemant KANORIA

Chairman and Managing Director of SREI India
CGDC International Board Member

Hemant Kanoria is the Chairman and Managing Director of SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd, one of India’s leading infrastructure financing institutions with an asset base of USD 11 billion. Under his leadership, SREI became the first Indian Infrastructure Financing Institution to be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2005. After consolidating its position as one of the leading players in the equipment finance business, SREI further expanded its operations in the infrastructure sector through investments in power, telecom, roads, ports and industrial parks.

Swee Lian WOO

Perfect (China) Co.
President

Mr. Woo Swee Lian, a Malaysian Chinese entrepreneur, is the President of Perfect (China) Co., Ltd. He is a well recognized figure in the Malaysian corporate world and has rich experience in direct marketing and motivational training. His reputation in Direct Marketing is reflected in the success he achieved in the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Singapore direct marketing industry.

Mr. Woo is the visiting Professor of Jiangnan University and the Executive Chairman of the Tsinghua Alumni Association for CEOs. In addition, Mr. Woo was conferred the title of Honorary Chairman of the Guangdong Jiangsu Chamber Of Commerce, Honorary Chairman of Malaysian Association in Guangdong (MAG), and Committee of the China Women Development Foundation (CWDF).

In recognition of his outstanding efforts both internationally and in China to raise funds for the CWDF’s “Water Cellar for Mothers” Project, Mr. Woo was honored with the title “Water Cellar for Mothers Ambassador”. This project aims to enable people in closed-off and undeveloped western region of China to be self sufficient in water.

Rick YUNE

Businessman and Actor
CGDC International Board Member

Rick Yune’s successful career spans nearly two decades across the finance, entertainment, and global development sectors. In 1994, Mr. Yune graduated with honors from the Wharton School of Business. After several years as a successful trader of equities and commodities, Mr. Yune became an investor in numerous ventures including Vault.com, the world’s largest career intelligence firm. Mr. Yune then successfully transitioned from the finance sector to the entertainment business. An actor, screenwriter, and producer, Mr. Yune starred in such films as The Fast and the Furious and Die Another Day in the James Bond franchise. Mr. Yune, who is currently working as a commodities trader, is passionate about the development and advancement of social welfare programs across Third World populations and economies. As such, he is an active promoter and fundraiser in regions across Africa and South East Asia. In his spare time, Mr. Yune is a University speaker and partakes in competitive sports. His years of training helped him qualify for the US Olympic trials in Tae Kwon Do and Golden Gloves competition in boxing.

Slavtko NEYKOV

Former NIS Deputy CEO
Director of the Energy Community Secretariat 2006 – 2012

Mr. Neykov is an energy consultant, who has more than 20 years non- interrupted experience in the energy sector, including as Secretary General of the Bulgarian energy ministry, a Regulator, expert at the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels and Director of the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna for seven years.
He has also extensive experience on a company level as a member of the board of managers of several Bulgarian energy companies, as well as Head of EU Liaison Office and Deputy CEO of NIS a.d.
Mr. Neykov has also worked as a state prosecutor and a lawyer. In addition to a law degree, Mr. Neykov holds a Diploma on International Economic Relations and Foreign Economic Activities, as well as a Master of Arts in European Integration.

H.E. Sukhbaatar BATBOLD

PM of Mongolia 2009 – 2012
CGDC International Board Member

ukhbaatar Batbold was born in 1963 in Ulaanbaatar, where he also graduated from high school, and then started his studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. After that he continued to study at the London Business School in 1991, and at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Moscow in 2002.
Batbold started his career as Expert at the Import division of the Ministry of Economy in 1986. From 1988 to 1992 he held an executive position at Mongol Impex Cooperative. From there he went on to the “Altai Trading” LLC, where he served as General Director between 1992 and 2000.
In 2000 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of his predecessor, Sanjaagiin Bayar. Batbold was elected twice as a Member of Parliament, and was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2000 and 2004 and Cabinet Minister of Trade and Industry between 2004 and 2006. In addition, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 until his nomination to the position of Prime Minister in 2009.

Suleiman Jasir AL-HERBISH

Director General and CEO
OPEC Fund for International Development – OFID

Mr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish has been the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) since November 2003. Since assuming office, Mr. Al-Herbish has led numerous initiatives to make OFID’s work more relevant and efficient, including the broadening of financing mechanisms and the strengthening of cooperation with other development organizations. In 2010, he oversaw the conclusion of milestone partnership agreements with the World Bank Group, the Andean Development Corporation and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and in May 2011, with the Asian Development Bank.
Mr. Al-Herbish has also driven institutional change at OFID, particularly in the areas of human resource development and corporate communications, the latter with a view to increasing recognition and understanding of OFID in both its Partner and Member Countries as well as within the wider development community.
Mr. Al-Herbish holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Cairo and an MA in Economics from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. Prior to his appointment at OFID, he served for 13 years as the Governor of Saudi Arabia at OPEC. He is currently in his second term of office at OFID, having been re-elected unanimously by the institution’s highest authority, the Ministerial Council, in June 2008.

Emmanuel LIMIDO

President of the World Insitute for Renewable Energies – WIRE
Chairman of Centuria Capital

Since 2010 he chairs the World Institute for Renewable Energies – WIRE, a joint venture between Centuria Capital and the Principality of Monaco aiming at promoting clean energies in the Mediterranean and African regions. After a Master in petroleum economics 1984, he started working in investment banking – for 25 years collecting experience with the French trade Commission in Los angeles, then Credit agricole (1992), Chairman of Corporate Finance group at Citibank in Paris (1997), and CEO of ABN AMRO France till 2001. He, then, co-founded Centuria Capital, a Paris – based global investment advisory and management company, working essentially with Sovereign Wealth Funds.
He is an active sponsor and investor in a number of private initiatives and foundations aiming at developing environmental awareness, social insertion, economic development in emerging countries and business development across foreign cultures.

Günter PYTEL

CEO of MCI Invest Ltd
Advisor to Chinese Municipalities on Energy Issues

Günter Pytel is an Austrian-born international businessman with residences in Asia and West Indies. He is the CEO of MCI Invest Ltd of Hong Kong. MCI is company active in property development and green energy technology facilitation. Mr. Pytel is a partner in several property and green energy technology companies in Asia and West Indies.
Günter Pytel has over 30 years of international project development experience and a track record in green energy developments especially in waste-to-energy and solar projects.
He is an advisor in green energy and environment developments to several governments and consults Chinese regions and cities in green energy projects.
His present projects in China and Afghanistan are waste-to-energy orientated. He is presently advising several cities in Europe and Asia on sustainable public transport based on electric busses, powered by green energy. Currently, he is advising regions in Asia in large energy storage facilities via lithium batteries for green energy projects and large energy storage for net balancing.

Mário DAVID

Member of the European Parliament
President of the Mashrek Delegation
CGDC International Board Member

Mário Henrique de Almeida Santos David is a MEP in the VII Legislature of the European Parliament (2009 – 2014), elected by the Portuguese Social Democratic Party (PSD). In the European Parliament, he serves on the Committee of Foreign Affairs, the Committee of International Trade and on the Sub-Committee of Security and Defence. He is also the Chairman of the Delegation for relations with the Mashrek countries, a member of EPP Group Bureau for the Delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean P.A., a member of the Conference of Delegation Chairs, a substitute member of the Delegation with the NATO P.A., and the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint P.A. He is also the Vice President of the European People ́s Party (EPP).

Dr. Werner FASSLABEND

Minister of Defence, Republic of Austria 1990 – 2000
Vice President of CGDC

Werner Fasslabend, an Austrian politician from the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP, Österreichische Volkspartei), a Christian democratic and conservative party, was Minister of Defence of Austria from 1990 to 2000.
From 1987 to 2007 Dr. Fasslabend was a Member of the Austrian National Assembly and from 2000 to 2002 he took on the role of the third President of the National Assembly.
After being chairman of the Austrian Workers’ and Employees’ Association (ÖAAB), Dr. Fasslabend, the holder of a doctorate in law, is currently President of the Politischen Akademie der ÖVP, the Political Academy of the ÖVP.

Prof. Kamran MOFID

Founder of Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative

Prof. Kamran Mofi d is Founder of the Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative – GCGI; co-founder and editor of the Journal of Globalisation for the Common Good, hosted at Purdue University, USA, and memberof the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of the World Public Forum, Dialogue of Civilisations (WPFDC). Prof. Mofid received his BA and MA in economics from the University of Windsor, Canada in 1980 and 1982 respectively. In 1986 he was awarded his doctorate in economics from the University of Birmingham, UK.
In 2001 he received a Certificate in Education in Pastoral Studies at Plater College, Oxford. Prof. Mofid’s work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on Economics, Business, Politics, International Relations, Theology, Culture, Ecology, Ethics and Spirituality. His writings have appeared in leading scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers.
His books include Development Planning in Iran: From Monarchy to Islamic Republic , The Economic Consequences of the Gulf war, Globalisation for the Common Good, Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalisation for the Common Good , Promoting the Common Good (with Rev. Dr. Marcus Braybrooke, 2005), and A non-Violent Path to Conflict Resolution and Peace Building (Co-authored, 2008).

Dr. Ismail SERAGELDIN

Director of the Library of Alexandria
Former Vice President of World Bank
Co-Chairman of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center – NGIC

Dr. Serageldin holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has received 40 honorary doctorates. He has published over 60 books and monographs and over 200 papers on a variety of topics including biotechnology, rural development, sustainability, and the value of science to society. Recipient of the “Public Welfare Medal” from the National Academy of Sciences – USA, Order of the Rising Sun from Japan, Legion d’Honneur from France, and a Commandeur of Arts and Letters of the French Republic.
Dr. Serageldin served as the World Bank Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development form 1992 to 1998, and for Special Programs form 1998 to 2000.
He is also Chairman and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic research, scientific and international institutions, and civil society efforts; the Advisory Committee of the World Social Science Report for 2013 UNESCO; Vice President of Institut d’Egypte (Egyptian Academy of Science), US National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Brookings Doha Center, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member of the Honor Committee of Foundation Chirac. He is also a jury member for the Prize for Conflict Prevention awarded every year by the NGIC foundation.