Cycle of Five Conferences on Five Continents to Continue in Singapore

November 2, 2009

For Immediate Release                                                                                November 2, 2009 

SINGAPORE– On November 19, 2009, the Global Interdependence Center (GIC) will continue its cycle of five conferences on five continents entitled, Food and Water – Basic Challenges to International Stability, to address the critical issues of food and water security.

Members of the Press are invited to the all-day conference, in partnership with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.  Speaker highlights include:

  • Charles Plosser, President, CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia  -“Food or Commodity Price Shocks and Inflation:  A Central Banker’s Perspective “       (Scheduled to speak at 12:45PM)
  • David Kotok, GIC Program Chair and CIO, Cumberland Advisors and Peter Demirali, Vice President & Portfolio Manager, Cumberland Advisors – “Financial Market Pressures and the Difficulty of Financing Food and Water”
  • Colin Chapman, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Strategic Forecasting Inc. – “Lost Opportunities in Australian Agriculture”
  • Seetharam Kallidaikurichi E., Visiting Professor and Director, Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore  “Living Cities”: New Insights for Water and Food Security for Rapidly Urbanizing Asia.
  •  Christine Schlesinger, Nurse Practitioner, Philadelphia VA Medical Center  “Food for Thought About Food”
  • Program moderated by Sri Jegarajah, Market Reporter, CNBC Asia Pacific

When: Thursday, November 19, 2009  9:00 AM – 2:15 PM

Where: Amphitheatre at the  University of Chicago
Booth School of Business
101 Penang Road
Singapore 238 466

Our goal throughout the five meetings is to foster international partnerships leading to coordinated global strategies to increase the availability of food and water. These will require coordination of national policies and private sector initiatives to support the global objectives identified by conference participants, recognizing our global interdependence and the need to solve problems together.

Food and water, humanity’s most basic needs, are in short supply, pressured by population growth, economic trends, trade rivalries, political strategies and unfavorable weather developments. These have reduced supplies relative to growing global demand driven, in part, by our global success in raising real incomes. It is not possible for individual countries to deal effectively with these problems. Solutions require global coordination and cooperation, planning and strategies.

Our International Conference Series, in keeping with our mission of the expansion of global dialogue and the betterment of worldwide living standards, endeavors to bring together parties affected by issues of food and water security to identify the causes of these problems and developing global strategies to ameliorate them. Each conference will be held in conjunction with a local partner, who will invite their regional constituencies to join the GIC delegation as attendees.

The conferences are as follows:

  • Philadelphia, USA – February 5, 2009 in partnership with CFA Society of Philadelphia & Federal Reserve Bank     of Philadelphia
  • Paris, France – March 24-26, 2009 in partnership with the Banque de France
  • Livingstone, Zambia – May 27-28, 2009 in partnership with the Central Bank of Zambia
  • Singapore – November 19-20, 2009 in partnership with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and CNBC Asia as our media partner.
  • Santiago, Chile – March 26-29, 2010

The Global Interdependence Center

GIC, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization founded in 1975, encourages the expansion of global dialogue and free trade to improve cooperation and understanding with the goal of reducing international conflicts and improving worldwide living standards.

GIC provides a forum for the exchange of divergent perspectives; engages experts to identify emerging economic, social, and political issues vital to the interdependent global community; organizes country and region-specific meetings, conferences and briefings for educational and networking opportunities; promotes global partnerships among governments, business, academic, and nonprofit organizations; and shares information and research with the public and with policymakers worldwide.

Our international delegations draw top leaders in policymaking, business, and academics.  The goal of these trips is to foster constructive dialogue, allow for an open and honest exchange of ideas in a non-partisan environment, and dissemination of best practices in business and policy from nations and organizations around the world.  Toward that end we hold some meetings under Chatham House rule, and invite the press for post-conversation conferences and speeches.  Materials presented are posted on our website to allow for the widest possible audience for our speakers.

TO REGSITER: Contact Jillian Fornito at the Global Interdependence Center, 215-898-9453 or email [email protected].

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