Chairman’s message

Gil Rémillard

Founding Chairman
International Economic Forum of the Americas

Following the annual meeting of the Board of Governors held on June 6, it was agreed that the 18^th edition of the Conference of Montreal, organized by the International Economic Forum of the Americas, will take place June 11 to 14, 2012 with the general theme of:

Some of the most important international decision makers have already confirmed their attendance. Current issues relating to the world economic situation and geopolitics will be central to the program. There will be a particular focus on the following issues:

• The financial crisis and its impact on the world economy: after the bursting of the sovereign debt bubble and the United States being downgraded, where are we going?
  
• The cooperative movement: the United Nations has proclaimed 2012 the international year of the cooperative movement; the Conference of Montreal will host some of the most important leaders of international cooperative movements;
  
• International trade, and in particular the new Americas-European Union economic space, including the Canada-European Union trade agreement: this important trade agreement, which should be finalized in 2012, will add a new dimension to trade across the Atlantic, since Mexico already has such an agreement with the European Union and the U.S. is preparing to negotiate one; a number of executives from Canadian and European companies will take the opportunity to meet at the 2012 Conference of Montreal to form new business ties for this new and important economic space;

• Developing and extracting natural resources: natural resources occupy a growing place in the world economy and are forcing us to think about new forms of partnerships for widespread benefits both from their export and their use;

The program for the 18^th Conference of Montreal will be published at the beginning of 2012. Once again, thanks to the presence of exceptional conference speakers and the support of our partners who have made this major international event possible, the 2012 Conference of Montreal will spotlight new perspectives on the major issues facing our world.

We look forward to welcoming you to the 18^th edition.

Gil Rémillard