On March 31st, IFE hosted its inaugural Emerging Markets Roundtable at the Embassy of Luxembourg. The wife of the Ambassador of Luxembourg, Mrs. Louise Åkerblom, and IFE CEO Coach Kathy Kemper welcomed the guests as well as EMR Co-Founders Andrew Mitchell and John Paul Farmer, who introduced the honored guest, Under Secretary of State Robert Hormats.
Secretary Hormats kicked off the discussion with thought-provoking insights based on his decades of experience, including the benefits he has recently witnessed from cross-border collaborations that would have been unthinkable even twenty years ago. Much attention was paid to the crucial role that natural resources play in the development of emerging markets – driving growth in some regions while constraining growth in others. A debate opened up amongst the attendees as to whether innovations could be counted on to provide alternatives to existing energy sources or whether conservation and efficiency would be necessary for the near future. The central roles of entrepreneurship and education were also discussed, with attention paid to programs such as the IFE-supported Learn Serve which enhances collaboration between young people in developed and developing countries and empowers budding entrepreneurs within a number of emerging markets. The conversation wrapped up with wide-spread agreement that the evening had been thought-provoking and worthwhile.
Guests commented on the beautiful table arrangements, fine wines and delicious cuisine the Luxembourg Embassy graciously provided.
Other guests in attendance included Jack Berry from Inphinex, Aaron Chatterji from the Council of Economic Advisors, Les Deak from the National Defense University Foundation, Pascale Dumit from ITT, Craig Helsing from BMW, Stephan G. Richter from The Globalist, Sanjay Rupani from The George Washington University School of Business, David Rush from J.P. Morgan, Aaron Sokasian from Tachyon Capital Management, Moshira Soliman from the National Defense University Foundation and Jay Strickland from the United Nations Foundation.
