Scotland brings World’s business leaders ‘home’
Scottish Development International, VisitScotland’s Business Tourism Unit and Homecoming Scotland have worked together to bring this high profile business event to Scotland for the first time. Taking place at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire (June 14th -16th) the forum will provide a platform to highlight Scotland’s reputation for innovation and re-affirm its position as a world class business and conferencing destination with the aim of generating future investment.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘The Global Innovation Machine; Fuelling New Growth in Tough Times’. Business leaders will take part in an intensive programme of seminars covering topics such as the global economy, emerging economies and climate change.
Speakers include Sir Bill Gammell, chief executive of Cairn Energy plc, Bruce Gardner, managing director of the Multinational Logistics Partnership, Lady Barbara Judge, chairman, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, French Government Minister, Christine Lagarde and Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Competition. The First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond MP, MSP will open the conference.
The prestigious event has previously been held in New York, Paris, Sydney, Copenhagen and Cannes. This year’s delegate list features representatives from 18 countries including US, Hong Kong, Israel, Pakistan and Canada with 70% of attendees travelling to Scotland from out with the UK.
The Forbes media empire was founded in New York by, Aberdeenshire born, B.C Forbes in 1917 and the company still heralds its Scottish ancestry at the heart of its brand. The grandsons of B.C Forbes, Steve, Robert and Kip Forbes, will make their own Homecoming Scotland journey as they return to host this international business conference.
Partnering with Forbes, a global publishing company and premier producer of conferences worldwide, provides Homecoming Scotland with a strong international partner that brings media and business benefits to Scotland. The event is also expected to raise Scotland’s profile as a business location. Organisers of previous Forbes CEO Forums in other destinations have reported that the conference not only raised their business profile, but also demonstrated what their country had to offer directly to potential investors.
Steve Forbes said;
“On behalf of all my family, we are thrilled to be coming to Scotland this week with our CEO Forum. My grandfather B.C Forbes left Scotland to take his chances in America in 1904. How fitting that Forbes is participating in Homecoming Scotland 2009, which is sending out a unique invitation to Scotland’s global family to ‘come home’ to celebrate in this country’s shaping of business around the world for hundreds of years. It is a privilege for all of us to be here and share this wonderful country with some of our colleagues from around the world.”
Lena Wilson, Chief Executive of Scottish Development International, said;
“Scotland is a world-class business location for foreign direct investment, which has a strong reputation on the international stage. Particularly at a time of economic uncertainty, the Forbes CEO Forum can only help to further develop this reputation by enabling some of the world’s key business leaders see first hand what Scotland has to offer.”
Philip Riddle, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said;
“Hosting the Forbes CEO Forum offers an unparalleled opportunity to reach the highest level of business leaders and influencers from leading European and global companies, and to showcase to them what Scotland has to offer as a destination for meetings and conferences.”
Paul Bush, Chief Operating Officer for EventScotland, the company responsible for delivery of Homecoming Scotland 2009 said;
“Homecoming Scotland 2009 is a year long countrywide celebration of inspirational events and activities and has been specially designed to celebrate Scotland’s great contributions to the world, so it is fitting that this year the Forbes CEO Forum should be held here representing the true, entrepreneurial spirit of ancestral Scots. Our key themes of ancestry and innovation are both reflected in this international event.”
Nick Horler, Chief Executive of Scottish Power, said:
"Visit Scotland has been the driving force responsible for attracting the prestigious Forbes European CEO Conference to Gleneagles and it is another impressive date in Homecoming Scotland's events calendar. Scottish Power is proud to support a number of Homecoming Scotland events and I am delighted to be addressing the Forbes Conference and meeting with some key people both in the energy industry and the wider business world."
Scotland has a strong reputation for attracting foreign direct investment, which was assessed as being worth £41bn annually to the Scottish economy in a report by DTZ last year. Factors such as a competitive cost base, strong people skills and a well developed business infrastructure, mean Scotland has continued to attract inward investment despite the current global economic uncertainty.
Recent examples include the announcement by insurers esure to expand its Glasgow operations by 500 jobs, and a major investment by global life sciences firm Schering-Plough at its facility at Newhouse.
For further information, please contact:
Sharon Makepeace, Press Officer
VisitScotland
Telephone: 07771 981 236
Email: sharon.makepeace@visitscotland.com
Pager: 07699 766986 (for out of hours press enquiries)
For more information on the Forbes CEO Forum, conference agenda, biographies for the Forbes family and speaker notes log onto www.forbesconferences.com
About Homecoming Scotland 2009 www.homecomingscotland2009.com)
Homecoming Scotland 2009 is a Scottish Government initiative managed by EventScotland, the national events agency, in partnership with VisitScotland, the country's national tourism agency. The initiative is part financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.
- Robert Burns is the inspiration for Homecoming Scotland as 2009 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s national poet.
- As well as Robert Burns, Homecoming Scotland events are also celebrating some of the other great contributions Scotland has given the world – golf, whisky, great Scottish minds and innovations, and as the ancestral home to millions of people around the world.
Homecoming Scotland will engage Scots at home as well as motivate people of Scottish descent and those who simply love Scotland, to take part in an inspirational celebration of our culture, heritage and some of the many great contributions Scotland has given to the world.
About Scottish Development International
- Scottish Development International (SDI) works to attract inward investment and knowledge to Scotland to help the economy grow. It also helps Scottish companies to do more business overseas and promote Scotland as a good place to live, work and do business.
- It is jointly operated by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government, and its work is guided by the Scottish Government’s strategy for economic development in Scotland.
- For further information visit www.sdi.co.uk.
- For media information on SDI and Scottish Enterprise please visit www.scottish-enterprise.presscentre.com
VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations
- VisitScotland is working with the tourism industry and other partners to achieve a 50 per cent growth in tourism revenues for Scotland by 2015.
- The organisation employs over 1,000 people and has offices and tourist information centres across Scotland.
- Tourism employs 200,000 people in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland. The industry generates over £4 billion revenue annually. Tourism supports around 9 per cent of employment in Scotland (13 per cent in the Highlands).
- For VisitScotland’s press releases, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.htm
- For holiday information on Scotland go www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- Homecoming Scotland 2009 is a year long celebration of Scottish culture, heritage and some of the many great contributions Scotland has given the world www.homecomingscotland2009.com
- Homecoming Scotland 2009 is a Scottish Government initiative managed by EventScotland in partnership with Visitscotland and part financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.
- For more information on VisitScotland’s annual review please go to www.visitscotlandannualreview.com