Name: Fortune Global Forum 2023: Welcome From Fortune
Uploaded: 2023-11-27
Duration: 6 min 29 s
Description: Alan Murray, Chief Executive Officer, FORTUNE; Co-chair, Fortune Global Forum

Alan Murray, Chief Executive Officer, FORTUNE; Co-chair, Fortune Global Forum

Fortune Global Forum 2023: Welcome From Fortune

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Welcome to the 2023 Fortune Global Forum. I think many of you know that fortune has been holding these forum, these forests since 1995 in various cities around the world. But this is the first time we've held a forum in the Middle East. We're very, we're very happy to be here and we're particularly pleased that Abu Dhabi is hosting us for this first event, first Fortune event in the Middle East. The theme of our event is a new era for business. And Abu Dhabi offers an interesting perspective on the three big mega trends that are both driving and defining that new era. The first of those is a technology revolution. Some of us I see some of you in the audience for this morning at the Mohammad bid Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence where we got an interesting look at some of the things that are happening here in Abu Dhabi to drive that technology revolution forward. The second big mega trend of course is the energy transformation. And again, Abu Dhabi offers an interesting perspective on that being both an oil producing country but also invested heavily in energy transformation and the third big mega trend is rethinking of globalization. We live at an interesting moment where there are two wars going on in the world, one in Europe, one in the Middle East simmering tension in Asia. Every CEO I've talked to over the course of the past year is rethinking their supply chains, rethinking their global footprint to take into account the realities of a very different geopolitical environment. And again, Abu Dhabi offers itself as an interesting uh uh positioning between Europe and Asia uh for corporations to place offices and facilities. So we're going to be talking about all of that over the course of the next three days we have a lot to talk about. Um And we've got a great lineup of, of speakers, thinkers, innovators doers to be part of it. Uh But those of you who have been at fortune events before, know that what's particularly important is not what you hear from the stage, but the people you meet in the networking events, the opportunity you have to talk to each other. Uh take a moment to introduce yourself to the person on your left, to the person on your right. Uh It's the conversation that happens among all of you that makes this event important. And let me tell you a little bit about you. OK. Most of you, you represent the, the uh largest, most important companies in the world. Most of you are from companies that are on our Fortune 500 list, the Fortune Global 500 list, uh Fortune 500 India, the new 500 Arabia list, the new 500 Europe list. So uh you are, you have earned yourself a place on these iconic listings of global business success. Together. You represent companies with $4.3 trillion in revenues. That's higher than the GDP of the US or China. Uh uh truly impressive. Uh You have the power to change the world and we hope the next three days will help inform you and inspire you to do that. So please make the best use of them. Uh Our goal of fortune is always to make business better and in the process to make the world better. Uh Now, before we get started, I want to say a few. Thank you. First of all, to our, our uh hosts our partners who make all this possible. Top of the list of course, is our host partner, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. Thank you so much for your support for this event. Uh I want to thank our premier partner, uh Xa, our partners G AC group honor mubadala paypal T com and Toptal, our knowledge partner mckenzie and company, our support partner, Finance and our media partner, Apco. Please round of applause for the partners who make this event possible. I also want to acknowledge and thank my fellow Fortune Global Forum co chairs, fortune editor in Chief Allison Chantel Allison. Are you in the audience somewhere or backstage? All right, you will, you'll see her shortly if you don't see her now. Uh Fortune executive editor, Peter Van Peter. Thank you, Peter and Fortune editor at large. Mahal Love Ram, who unfortunately not be with us but played an important role in putting together the program you're going to be seeing over the next few days. A quick reminder about our reporting rules. Everything that's said on stage or in a round table session is on the record, but conversations you have over dinner in the hallway, whatever they will all be considered off the record unless you agree otherwise. And now let's dive into the substance. I talked about the three mega trends that are driving this new era of business. We're going to start with a panel to discuss those mega trends and how companies can adapt and grow and prosper in such a tumultuous environment. The fortune, senior editor at large, Jeff Colvin will lead the conversation with Abdul Nasser Bin Kalban, the CEO of Emirates Global Aluminum, which is the largest premium aluminum producer in the world and the biggest industrial company in the UAE outside of oil and gas. Also Mik Gerk, who is CEO of the Global Technology and Investment Group, E and International Christian Ulbricht, who is president and CEO of the global real estate investment management firm, JLL and Nigel. Vaz Ceo of Public Sapient, the Digital Business transformation company focused on helping companies thrive in a digital world. So a diverse representation of industries to kick off our conversations here. Please welcome them to the stage.