International Summit of Cooperatives: Day 2 preview

The second day of the International Summit of Cooperatives will see delegates discussing topics including the global economy context, sustainability, finance, trade agreements and food security.

Following a conference breakfast for young people participating as part of the Young Leaders programme, and two Summit rendezvous, delegates will hear from David Johnston, governor general of Canada, and Monique Leroux, president and chief executive of Desjardins Group, as well as chair of the organisation’s board.

The conference will then continue with a speech by Robert J. Schiller, the 2013 Nobel Prize co-laureate in economics and professor of economics at Yale University, who will look at how to direct business and finance towards developing a good society.

The first round table of the day will be focused on the role of emerging and developing countries in changing the global economy and the impact this could have on the business world. The round table will be chaired by Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator at Financial Times, with contributions from David P. Shark, deputy director of the World Trade Organization, Franco Taisch, member of the board of directors at Raiffeisen, Juan Buchenau, senior financial sector specialist, finance and private sector development at the World Bank, Michael Sabia, president and chief executive of Caisse de depot et placement du Québec and Robert Schiller.

In a second round table chaired by David Scanlan, managing editor for Canada at Bloomberg News, panellists will discuss how to ensure the survival of co-operatives and mutuals in a competitive economic climate.

This will be followed by a summit rendezvous hosted by the European Association of Cooperative Banks. After lunch, Paul Macmillan, global public sector Industry leader at Deloitte will introduce a study on his book The Solution Revolution.

The Summit will then explore what role co-operatives can play in providing employment, with a presentation by Sandra Polaski, deputy director general for policy at the International Labour Organization and a round table on job creation and heightened productivity. At the round table, Bruno Roelants, secretary general of CICOPA, the International organisation of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producers’ Cooperatives will present the results of a study on co-operatives and employment carried out by his organisation.

Another topic on the Summit’s agenda is the digital transformation in the retail banking industry, which will be touched upon in a presentation on financial Consumers Expectations by Lode Snykers, vice president of global financial services as CGI Group.

The final round table of the day will address the issue of food security and includes the presentation of a study report by McKinsey and Company Chicago. The round table will look at food insecurity and instability as well as the alternatives proposed by co-operatives to reduce insecurity. Panellists will include co-operative leaders from the USA Japan, China, France, Brazil and India.

Laura D’Andrea Tyson, Professor of Business Administration and Economics will also deliver a presentation on the global economic issues and the real world challenges and opportunities facing world markets today.

This will be followed by three different rendezvous and the Top.Coop Awards Ceremony. The day will end with an evening event for young leaders and a conference dinner where delegates will look at applied governance in the co-operative sector. The full programme is available online here.

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