Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih will address the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Wednesday, with policy makers and business leaders set to discuss issues ranging from trade and capital flows to climate change, energy security and war.
Han’s opening remarks will come days before US President Joe Biden is expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping for key talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, and may presage China’s stance as both sides seek to improve frayed ties.
International relations may dominate the three-day forum, where speakers include Ken Griffin, chief executive officer of Citadel, and Sergio Ermotti, who recently returned as CEO of UBS Group AG. Al-Falih and Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will on Wednesday discuss the rise of economic statecraft, while top executives from Mastercard Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Volvo Car AB will talk on trade flows and supply chains as companies de-risk and relocate operations. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will speak in the evening.
At the forum in 2022, China’s then-Vice President Wang Qishan spoke after another Biden-Xi meeting, seeking to reassure investors that the ruling Communist Party would continue opening China with “strong policy continuity to provide greater certainties and stability for the world.” At the same event, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded Russia’s exit from Crimea and the eastern Donbas region as conditions for ending the two countries’ war.
Other key sessions on Wednesday include a discussion with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, whose country’s relations with Serbia have become an obstacle to both nations’ ambitions to join the European Union.
The morning will also see remarks from John Waldron, president and COO of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Franklin Templeton President and COO Jenny Johnson; Pimco Managing Director and Vice President John Studzinski; and Lim Chow Kiat, CEO of GIC Pte, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
The NEF will also see extensive discussions about climate change, including by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, along with insurers and representatives of at-risk nations such as the Maldives.
Tensions over climate change are increasing ahead of the COP28 summit that’s being hosted by the United Arab Emirates from Nov. 30, with clashes likely over emissions from developing countries, and over who should pay into a fund to address losses and damage from climate change.
The New Economy Forum is being organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.
