President Bill Clinton speaks at Swiss Marketing & IMD event
Olten (ots)
President Bill Clinton delivered the keynote speech at the Inspire for Excellence conference co-organised by Swiss Marketing and IMD on May 20.
In his speech, titled "Embracing our Common Humanity," President Clinton discussed the challenge of globalization and indicated the way toward a common future based on shared goals and values. "There is a growing recognition that although sharp conflict makes for good politics, what works in people's lives are creative networks of cooperation. When we talk about 21st century citizenship, the stability and vibrancy of societies depend on networks of people," he said.
President Clinton said common features of successful countries include a commitment to sustainable economics, good business practices and a vibrant civil society.
"There's a gap between what the private sector can produce and what government can provide, and a lot of NGOs are working on how to fill that gap faster, cheaper and better," he said. In a wide-ranging analysis of the state of the world, President Clinton urged the audience not to be discouraged by the current bad news and uncertainty.
"It would be a great mistake for individuals and organizations to take the current climate as an excuse to slack off, give up and pull back. You need a strategy and you need to execute it," he said. He said the challenge for advocates of sustainable economics, especially in today's challenging times, is to show that sustainability is a more productive economic path than the approaches tried so far. In his introductory remarks, IMD Executive Director Jim Pulcrano described President Clinton's keynote as "one of the highlights of IMD's history."
Tanja Levine, President and Founder of the Inspire for Excellence Forum, and Swiss Marketing board member, said she hoped the audience "would take away at least one idea or inspiration for what you want to do to leave this world in a better state."
In addition to IMD and Swiss Marketing, the forum was sponsored by Hult International Business School and Accenture. Other partners included Le Temps, Do! L'agence SA, Kai Zen and Drappier.
Swiss Marketing is the number 1 national association of Marketing & Sales executives in Switzerland with over 4000 members and 35 Network clubs.
Picures on request.
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