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British conference on globalization draws US treasury secretary as star speaker
By Odile Duperry
AFP
LONDON
Petroleumworld.com 11 26 06US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will be the star speaker at this week's annual conference of British employers, who distrust their government but welcome globalization and foreign investment in Britain.
Others speaking to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) on Monday and Tuesday are two British prime ministers in waiting: the opposition Conservative party's leader David Cameron and finance minister Gordon Brown, who hopes to succeed Tony Blair next year.
Brown has recently stepped up his goodwill gestures to London's financial institutions, pledging in October to cut regulations governing business and make fiscal practices more competitive.
Last week, Sir David Varney issued a report for the revenue and customs department calling for the creation of a simplified and less aggressive tax system.
The Treasury endorsed its recommendations.
"The Varney report shows that somebody somewhere is listening, and I suspect that somebody was Gordon Brown," CBI Director General Richard Lambert, former monetary policy committee member at the Bank of England, told The Daily Telegraph on Thursday.
Pesimistic at the national level, the CBI unreservedly supports a completely global vision for London's financial sector.
Other guest speakers will be executives of three non-British firms, Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of Mittal Steel Company, Nikesh Arora, vice president of European operations at Google, and Jean-Louis Beffa, director of Saint-Gobain.
"The US economy has been a powerful driver of global growth in recent (times) so Mr. Paulson's thoughts will be of particular interest," Lambert said in a statement from CBI ahead of Paulson's speech on Tuesday.
"As we all face up to the challenges from the rise of the Chinese economy, delegates will also be keen to hear the perspective that the US Treasury secretary can bring from his recent visit," Lambert said.
Among the main themes are how to meet the "challenges from India and China" as well as guarantee Britain's energy independence. Britain became a net gas importer in 2004 and will become a net crude importer in 2009.
The third theme will be "globalization and company ownership," where the CBI plans to debate economic patriotism and determine if British business is for sale to the highest bidder.
It is a subject about which Lambert is especially relaxed.
"This is a globalizing world and you are either in it or you are not," Lambert told The Daily Telegraph.
He would be unperturbed if foreign owners like Nasdaq end up taking over the London Stock Exchange or if India's Tata or Brazil's CSN buy out Corus steel.
"The UK has benefitted enormously from international capital and management," Lambert said.
"BMW's Mini factory is a remarkable example of overseas investment made in the UK. And who would have thought a decade ago that the City of London would now be challenging New York as the global financial center," he asked.
"I cannot believe that Nasdaq would want to spend three billion pounds on the LSE just to run it down," he said.
However, Lambert is concerned that research-heavy companies could come under foreign control or, more generally, that Britain is lagging behind in producing skilled employees.
"We have to move people up the skills chain. Because of the rise of India and China there will be rapidly decreasing opportunities (in Britain) for people who are unskilled," he said.
AFP 26 0249 GMT 11 06
Copyright© 2001 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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