The Ambrosetti Forum - organized by The European House - Ambrosetti, a consulting firm - is an annual international economic conference held at Villa d'Este, in the Italian town of Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como. Since its inception in 1975, the Forum has brought together heads of state, ministers, Nobel laureates and businessmen to discuss current challenges to the world's economies and societies.
The Forum presents forecasts of the economic and geo-political outlooks for the world, Europe and Italy. The forum also analyzes the main scientific and technological developments and their impacts on the future of business and society. This is accomplished through meetings, debates and presentations of special, ad hoc studies.
Participants and speakers
Forum participants, typically business leaders from major Italian and international corporations, are privately invited.
Among those who have taken part in recent years: H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, José María Aznar, Silvio Berlusconi, Joe Biden, Ian Bremmer, Richard Cheney, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Renato Dulbecco, José Manuel Durão Barroso, Larry Ellison, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, François Fillon, Bill Gates, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Felipe González, Neville Isdell, Alain Juppé, Henry Kissinger, Vaclav Klaus, Christine Lagarde, Rita Levi Montalcini, Abu Mazen, John McCain, Mario Monti, Giorgio Napolitano, Shimon Peres, Romano Prodi, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, H.M. Rania Al-Adullah Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Card. Joseph Ratzinger, Michel Rocard, Nouriel Roubini, Eric Schmidt, Helmut Schmidt, George Shultz, Giulio Tremonti, Jean-Claude Trichet, Umberto Veronesi, James Wolfensohn, Jimmy Wales, Gianroberto Casaleggio.
The event takes place behind closed doors, under the Chatham House Rule.
Media coverage of the event is very relevant, given the presence of over 400 Italian and international journalists.
In addition, BBC World, CNBC, CNN, Financial Times and RAI produce talk shows and in-depth live interviews with the speakers of the Forum for broadcast around the globe.
Main topics
The economic outlookChina after the global crisisToday the world of tomorrow – Scientific and technological developmentsLeadership today and sustainable developmentThe education challengeAgenda for Europe:Speech by the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio NapolitanoProgress report from the EU Council PresidencyEuropean governance after the Lisbon TreatyEurope and the crisis: Euro and financial market stabilityEurope and growth: single market and competitivenessThe excellent company, todayItaly in the global outlook:Competitiveness and developmentPresentation of research results: “Nuclear for the economy, environment and development”JusticeSecurityIndustrial relations and welfareFederalismCompetitiveness of the Italian public sectorPresentation by the Italian Minister for the Economy and FinanceAngelino Alfano - Minister of Justice, ItalyJoaquín Almunia - European Commissioner for CompetitionJosé Maria Aznar - former Prime Minister, SpainMichel Barnier - European Commissioner for Internal Market and ServicesMaria Bartiromo - Anchor, CNBCFatih Birol - Chief Economist, IEA (International Energy Agency)Alberto Bombassei - Vice President for Industrial Relations, Social Affairs and Welfare, Confindustria, ItalyRaffaele Bonanni - Secretary General, CISL, ItalyRenato Brunetta - Minister for Public Administration and Innovation, ItalyGeorge W. Buckley - Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, 3M, USAFabrizio Capobianco - CEO TOK.tv, President and Chairman FunambolCheng Siwei - Dean, Management School, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Science, China; former Vice Chairman, Standing Committee, National People’s Congress, ChinaPiercamillo Davigo - Judge of the Italian Supreme Court of CassationFerruccio De Bortoli - Editor in Chief, Il Corriere della SeraPiero Fassino - Member of the Italian ParliamentNiall Ferguson - Professor of History, Harvard UniversityMauro Ferrari - President and Chief Executive Officer, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, HoustonJean-Paul Fitoussi - President, Observatoire Français des Conjonctures EconomiquesMariastella Gelmini - Minister of Education, University and Research, ItalyMáire Geoghegan-Quinn - European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and ScienceYasuchika Hasegawa - President and CEO, Takeda Pharmaceutical, JapanHuang Jing - Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of SingaporePietro Ichino - Member of the Senate, ItalyHarold Kroto - Nobel Laureate for Chemistry; Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry, Florida State UniversityChristine Lagarde - Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment, FranceAnne Lauvergeon - CEO, Areva; FranceYves Leterme - Prime Minister, BelgiumEnrico Letta - Member of the Italian ParliamentLi Yuguang - Deputy Director, State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of ChinaEdison Liu - Executive Director, Genome Institute of SingaporeEmma Marcegaglia - President, Confindustria, ItalyRoberto Maroni - Minister for Internal Affairs, ItalyMario Monti - President, Bocconi University, ItalyKenneth P. Morse - Member, National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (U.S. Department of Commerce); Founding Managing Director, MIT Entrepreneurship Center; Chair in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Competitiveness, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The NetherlandsAmre Moussa - Secretary General, League of Arab StatesWolfgang Munchau - Associate Editor, Financial TimesGiorgio Napolitano - President of the Italian Republic - live, in videoconferenceJoaquín Navarro-Valls - President Advisory Board, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome; President, Telecom Italia FoundationTommaso Padoa-Schioppa - President, Notre Europe, FranceCorrado Passera - Managing Director and CEO, Intesa Sanpaolo, ItalyShimon Peres - President, State of IsraelCharles David Powell - House of Lords, UKit:Federico Rampini - Correspondent from the USA, La RepubblicaMarco Reguzzoni - Member of the Italian ParliamentJonas Ridderstråle - Visiting Professor, Ashridge Business School (UK); WriterGianni Riotta - Editor in Chief, Il Sole 24 OreSergio Romano - ColumnistNouriel Roubini - Professor of Economics and International Business, Stern School of Business, New York University, USACard. Camillo Ruini - President of the Cultural Project Committee, Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI)Elena Salgado - Minister for the Economy and Finance, SpainWolfgang Schüssel - Former Federal Chancellor, AustriaHans-Werner Sinn - Professor of Economics and Public Finance, University of Munich; Director of CES-Center for Economic Studies (University of Munich); President, Ifo Institute for Economic Research, GermanyPeter Sutherland - President, Goldman Sachs International, UKAntonio Tajani - Vice-President, European Commission and European Commissioner for Industry and EntrepreneurshipGiulio Tremonti - Minister for the Economy and Finance, ItalyJean-Claude Trichet - President, European Central BankEdwin Truman - Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, USA.Matti Vanhanen - Former Prime Minister, FinlandYanis Varoufakis - Finance Minister of Greece.Umberto Veronesi - Director, European Institute of OncologyJimmy Wales - Founder, Wikipedia
