EY to hold ‘Open for Business’ conference

On 7 October, EY will be holding its Malta attractiveness survey Conference, a benchmarking annual event with the participation of all the key public and private stakeholders. With “Malta: Open for business” as this year’s theme, the event is once again set the tone for the future of foreign direct investment.

Over the years, EY has invited world-renowned keynote speakers to this conference. This tradition of excellence continues this year with Lord Peter Mandelson, one of the architects of ‘New Labour’ and Jan Peter Balkenende, a former Christian Democratic Dutch prime minister.

Lord Mandelson served in a number of cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and was made a life peer by the Queen, in 2008. He was elected as a member of parliament in 1992 and served until his appointment as the EU Commissioner for Trade.

During his tenure in UK government, he served Secretary of State for Trade and Industry where he was responsible for the introduction of the National Minimum Wage. He also published the British government’s Competitiveness White Paper - “Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy”.

In 1999 he was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Between 1999 and 2001 he negotiated the creation of Northern Ireland’s power sharing government and the IRA’s announcement that they planned to put their arms beyond use. He also introduced the radical overhaul of the police service in Northern Ireland.

Peter re-joined Gordon Brown’s government in 2008. In a cabinet reshuffle on 2009, he was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, First Secretary of State, Lord President of the Council and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and that he would continue as President of the Board of Trade.

In 2010, he became chairman of Global Counsel, a strategic advisory firm based in London which is part of global advertising group WPP, and in 2011 he was appointed a Senior Adviser to the advisory investment banking firm, Lazard. He is also Honorary Chairman of international think tank Policy Network and the UK chairman of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, which brings together leading academics, politicians and business people.

Jan Peter Balkenende started his political career in the Amstelveen municipal government, joined the Policy institute of the Christian Democratic Alliance and was elected to the Dutch parliament in 1998. He became prime minister of the Netherlands in 2002 and served for 8 years. Currently he is a Professor of Governance, Institutions and Internationalisation at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and an EY partner responsible for corporate responsibility.

The event is supported by The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, FinanceMalta, the Malta Gaming Authority, John Taylor, HSBC Bank Malta plc, GO plc, Mizzi Motors, Bank of Valletta and Malta Enterprise.

Early registration is highly recommended by sending an email to [email protected], or online www.ey.com/mt/mas.