The London Development Forum was held on 22 January 2011 at the campus of the London School of Economics, London. Human Dynamics was pleased to sponsor the forum in cooperation with the European Investment Bank.
The entire program was a success, with a slew of reknowned top-tier speakers on key aspects of this year’s topic: Envisaging Sustainable Paths to Development. It took a closer look at the benefits and costs of Public-Private Partnerships.
The event was kicked off by Prof Plutarchos Sakellaris, Vice-President of the EIB, with a discussion on the importance of stable political and economic institutions in ensuring sustainable development in a region. In light of his experience in working with various levels of government, Mr Sakellaris proposed the level that he thought it best to handle development.
The highlight of the event was a lecture given by Prof Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General and Founder of the Millennium Promise Alliance, on the Effectiveness of the United Nations in Global Development. Mr Sachs looked closely at the pros and cons of the UN’s past efforts and offered suggestions on how to best proceed in a globalising world.
Prof Danny Quah, Economic Advisor to US President Barack Obama during transition and current Head of the Economics Department at LSE, provided an overview of the course of Development over the last 50 years, noting important historical trends and clusters. He also probed the question of whether development theories make an impact on making real development progress.
Ms Claudia Rodriguez, former member of the Board of Directors of Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), led the first Workshop on Cooperation with the Private Sector in Development. Here, she touched on the development of PPP’s, looking at their varying level of success across different regions.
Prof Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist and Special Advisor to the President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), led a workshop on Trade Liberalization and Development in Eastern Europe. Mr Berglöf used the region as a case study to examine the successes and failures of trade and economic integration. Lessons learned from this case could be applied to create successful economies in other regions.
At the beginning of the HD hosted lunch event, HD's very own Executive Partner, Mr Bernhard Hulla, spoke on the necessity of public sector consulting groups in ensuring that development aid projects are sustained long after the withdrawal of foreign firms and government agencies. At this time, we also had the opportunity to discuss in a more informal fashion the issues raised at the conference with speakers and students.
The London Development Forum proved a great success for all who took part, enlightening and engaging students on a complicated and unresolved topic. It was an opportunity to closely examine pressing problems in today’s world that youth will be dealing with long into the future. The answer of today's youth to today’s problems will shape how the global economy works tomorrow.