World Business Forum 09 - Day 2 coverage

View from the Bloggers Gallery at World Business Forum 2009

Day 2

Dennis Nally (PWC Chairman) says "We have lost trust at all levels" "This causes investment to grind to a halt" He calls for increased transparency. "Transparency is the lifeblood of investors". Then he plugged what he called convergence of accounting standards (read IFRS). I wonder if PWC makes any money assisting companies in this. My suggestion - walk the walk. Fully disclose the conflict. Do not speak of transparency without being transparent.

Francisco Gonzales, CEO of BBVA, one of largest banks in the world, based in Spain, lots of Latin American operations. He views short term thinking as the cause of the financial crisis. On an optimistic note, he thinks the financial turnaround is coming soon. "Relationships with customers create profits." "Look at the whole person."

Peter Voser - Royal Dutch Shell. 3 billion energy consumers added to population. Greenhouse gas emissions are a huge issue. Energy demands double. "We need investments in all energy areas". "There are no easy answers or silver bullets to the energy problem.". He believes it is impossible to solve the energy problem with renewable sources. He advocates conservation and efficiency. He advocates sequestering carbon (injecting carbon dioxide is common already in the oil and gas drilling business).

Morris Chang, Founding Chairman Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. $10B in sales, 20,000 employee. $600-700M spent in R and D. In 2001, sales dropped by 25%. The current plunge is not as bad as 2001. In the downturn, R and D spending has increased by 10%. "The work ethic of Taiwan engineers is remarkable"

Roger Agnelli, CEO Cia Vale do Rio Doce S.A. ($30B sales) 2nd largest mining company in the world. Based in Brazil. Sees China as huge driver of world growth. "They have money, they have technology - I do not see them joining the recession" "I love China - I pray for them everyday"