Ilpo Kuronen, Programme Director at the Finnish Health and Well-Being Cluster, Mika Sulkinoja from the Finnish Clean-tech cluster, Gregory Bauer, International and Marketing Manager at the Atlanpole Biotherapies Cluster and Laurent Manach, Director of the EMC2 Cluster shared their experience on how to foster innovation in a debate moderated by Joshua Bower-Saul.

Innovation Clusters From Around the World - From left to right: Joshua Bower-Saul, Ilpo Kuronen, Mika Sulkinoja, Gregory Bauer and Laurent Manach

Start-ups from these clusters or from leading regions around the world then had the opportunity to present their business, product or technology. Almost 25 companies from 3 sectors (high-tech, biotech, clean-tech) introduced their innovative solutions to the audience.

Representatives from those leading regions then took the floor to share their experience on how to stimulate economic growth. Jean-Luc Firmin, Managing Director of Invest in Western France, questioned Johan Declerck, Managing Director of the Development Agency of East Flanders, Katerina Diamantopoulou, Secretary General of the Sterea Ellada Regional Adminitration and Sophie Labrosse, Managing Director of the European project WIN Atlantic on that topic.

Regional Ambassadors Panel - From left to right: Jean-Luc Firmin, Katerina Diamantopoulou, Sophie Labrosse and Johan Declerck

Anne-Marie Idrac, French Minister of State for Foreign Trade closed this 8^th edition of the World Investment Conference by emphasizing the French initiatives in the field of trade and competitiveness.

Anne-Marie Idrac during the Closing Keynote

 Photos Yvonnik MARTIN-L’ALEXANDRE ©ymla44

For about 30 minutes then, Marc Lhermitte presented the results of the Ernst & Young’s 2010 European attractiveness survey entitled “Waking Up to the New Economy”.

Marc Lhermitte, Partner at Ernst & Young, presenting the results of the Ernst & Young's 2010 European Attraciveness Survey

The following debate got onto the topic of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and its current changing patterns. Ben Verwaayen, CEO of Alcatel Lucent, David Appia, CEO of the Invest in France Agency, Philippe Favre, President of the International Network of Alstom and James S. Turley, Global Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young shared their point of view on that topic in a debate moderated by Patricia Szarvas, anchor at CNBC.

Debate: The Changing Patterns of FDI - From left to right: Patricia Szarvas, Ben Verwaayen, David Appia, James S. Turley and Philippe Favre

The end of the morning and the first half of the afternoon were devoted to panel discussions, focused on more precise topics during the 6 symposia on key attractiveness assets such as clean-techs, infrastructure and innovation among others.

Symposium 4 : European Innovation Ecosystem - From left to right: Hermann Hauser, Guy Diedrich, Philippe Suinen, Pierre Dartout, Philippe Grand and Jan Siemons

Symposium 6: Infrastructure: Empowering Economic Growth - From left to right: Clara Gaymard, Martin Reeves, David Fisher, Denis Griot, Hai Feng Ling and Gabor Emori

The conclusions that emerged during those panel discussions were presented in the “Keynote speeches and recommendations”. Lucian Sârb, Director of News and Programmes at Euronews moderated the debate between Joachim Bitterlich, Executive Vice President International Affairs, Chairman Germany of Veolia Environment, Jörgen Holmquist, Director General for Internal Market and Services at the European Commission, Hai Feng Ling, Executive VP of Huawei Europe, Mark Otty, Area Managing Parnter EMEIA at Ernst & Young, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Former Prime Minister of France and Philippe Varin, Chairman of PSA Peugeot Citroën.

In a nutshell, political and economic decision-makers insisted on the necessity for Europe to invest in training and education and also advocated for a stronger and more transparent European authority with a clear mission.

Keynote speeches and recommendations - From left to right: Stephan Kuhn, Lucian Sârb, Jörgen Holmquist, Hai Feng Ling, Philippe Varin, Mark Otty, Joachim Bitterlich and Jean-Pierre Raffarin

Photos Yvonnik MARTIN-L’ALEXANDRE ©ymla44

More details about what happened during each day of the event in the upcoming posts !

The conference opened on June 2^nd at 5 p.m. and debates officially began at 7 p.m.

Opening Debate - From left to right: Olivier Fleurot, Herman Van Rompuy, Jian Qing Jiang, Raya Haffar El Hassan and Thomas Enders

This Opening Debate gathered several very high-level speakers. Michel Mercier, French Minister of Rural and Territorial Affairs, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, Thomas Enders, CEO of Airbus, H.E. Raya Haffar El Hassan, Minister of Finance of Lebanon and Jian Qing Jiang, Chairman of the Board of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China discussed about the current challenges facing Europe to maintain its attractiveness in the current crisis. The debate was moderated by Olivier Fleurot, CEO of MS&L, Publicis Group.

Michel Mercier during the Opening Debate

Opening Debate

Photos Yvonnik MARTIN-L’ALEXANDRE ©ymla44

“The European Commission has approved a new strategy to promote clean and energy-efficient vehicles in the EU. […] The European Union earmarked €5 billion in its economic recovery plan for the Green Car Initiative, designed to develop research into electric and hybrid vehicles. […]The take-up of electric vehicles is expected to have a massive positive effect on the environment in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. […] The strategy for electric cars falls within a wider plan to increase the overall uptake of green vehicles across the EU. […] By the end of the year, the EU executive intends to present guidelines on financial incentives for consumers to buy green vehicles.”

Whole article on http://www.euractiv.com/en/transport/brussels-pushes-for-electric-cars-news-488875

“European firms are faster-growing, more profitable, and better at globalization than their American rivals. […] Since the early 1990s, Europe has steadily expanded its share of the world’s 100 biggest multinationals compiled annually by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. […] Many European export-oriented companies have excelled when it comes to restructuring, increasing their competitiveness even as they face off against lower-cost rivals from China and other developing countries. […] The key to the European model has been globalization. European companies have moved much faster and further to seize markets beyond their borders. […] The Europeans have managed so far to ride the rest of the world’s ascendance by providing them with the infrastructure, factories, and high-end goods.”

Whole article on http://www.newsweek.com/id/236598/

In its April 15th edition, L’Express announces the presence of Thomas Enders, President and CEO of Airbus, and of Eric Woerth, French Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Public Service at  the World Investment Conference 2010.