This afternoon’s session in Mayfair began with the hip hop-esque entourage of the President of Turkey. Once his excellency had made it to the stage he gave a long and detailed description of how his country has grown over the past decade without mortgaging it’s future generations to the hilt. Ostensibly an invitation to British businesses to invest, it might have been better positioned as a lecture to British politicians about fiscal responsibility.
Then followed boy wonder and Foreign Secretary William Hague. He made a fairly impassioned plea for the FCO to be able to practice diplomacy for business as well as for more conventional reasons of security and political values.
The afternoon finished off with a second panel in which business leaders from various companies talked about the social good that business can (and should) do. Particularly impressive was Emma Harrison from A4e. She, in particular, ridiculed CSR departments in corporates, talking about how social responsibility can’t be abdicated to a standalone department.
Overall, an interesting day. Some thoughts in reflection:
– why do business leaders spend so much time listening to politicians? I mean, really, what do most of them know about business? (Of course, I realise it it’s more political ballet than content of substance, but still…)
– whilst there was lots of time spent talking about what the solution is to our economic problems (increased exports, preferably outside of the EU or other traditionally “developed” economies), and some suggestions about how others might help (others = government; help = cut red tape), there was next to nothing in ths way of sharing ideas about how that might happen. An inability out unwillingness to learn from our peers is a recipe for disaster.
– I do worry that whilst there is plenty of opportunity for business to develop in the growing economies, it is at much lower revenue and margin than most UK businesses are geared to deliver at, and that therefore we are priced out of much of this opportunity.
Anyway, a good day thinking about things from a different angle…
mmitII 