Beijing/Tianjin/Tokyo/Vienna/Toronto – The InterAction Council announced today that it will hold its 30th Annual Plenary Meeting in Tianjin, China, from 10 to 12 May.
“This is a historic year for the InterAction Council as we celebrate our 30th anniversary,” said Franz Vranitzky, InterAction Council Co-Chair and former Chancellor of Austria. “We are humbled to reach this milestone in a country as steeped in history as China. We are thankful for the support and kindness our Chinese colleagues and friends have already shown us in offering to host this meeting.”
The two-day meeting will bring together more than 20 former heads of state and government, leading academics and policy makers (list of participants below) to deliberate four main themes: the present state of the world, the global financial crisis, global security imperatives (including nuclear disarmament) and the global water crisis. The opening ceremony on 10 May will feature a keynote speech by Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore on the present state of the world.
“China has changed dramatically since the last time the InterAction Council held a meeting there in 1993,” said Jean Chrétien, InterAction Council Co-Chair and former Prime Minister of Canada. “In Tianjin, in particular, China’s growing economy is evident through the scale and pace of development outside every window. This will provide an important and fascinating lens through which we can examine some of the most critical issues facing the world today.”
In its 30-year history, the InterAction Council has been at the forefront of many prominent issues, most notably the 1997 drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities, a document that counterbalances the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the recent Hiroshima Declaration, a powerful plea for the abolishment of nuclear weapons.
In addition to the roundtable discussions, InterAction Council members will meet with Chinese government officials and have the opportunity to engage in bilateral meetings. They will also be given a sampling of some of the cultural treasures and impressive sights that Tianjin to offer.
The InterAction Council holds its meetings in a different country every year and last met in China in May 1993 for its 11th Annual Plenary Meeting in Shanghai.
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For further information, please visit the InterAction Council website or contact:
Tokyo: Mrs. Keiko Atsumi, [email protected], 81-3-5549-2950
Vienna: Ms. Marica Buranich, [email protected], 43-1-667-3101
Toronto: Mrs. Tanya Guy, tanya.guy[at]interactioncouncil.org, 647-224-0422
Tianjin: Mr. YANG Chao (for domestic media in China), [email protected], 0086-22-23127041
Tianjin: Ms. Wang Tong (for foreign media in China and Hong Kong and Macao’s media in China), [email protected], 0086-22-58368815
About InterAction Council
Established in 1983, the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government is an international organization whose objective is to address long-term, global issues facing humankind. Co-Chaired by the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien (Prime Minister of Canada, 1993-2003) and Dr. Franz Vranitzky (Chancellor of Austria, 1986-1997), the Council’s membership is comprised of more than thirty former heads of state who volunteer their time to develop proposals for action and submit them directly to national and international decision-makers.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
30th Annual Plenary Meeting
10-12 May 2012
Tianjin, People’s Republic of China
InterAction Council Members
1. The Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien, Co-Chairman (former Prime Minister), Canada
2. H.E. Dr. Franz Vranitzky, Co-Chairman (former Chancellor), Austria
3. H.E. Mr. Helmut Schmidt, Honorary Chairman (former Chancellor), Germany
4. H.E. Mr. Malcolm Fraser, Honorary Chairman (former Prime Minister), Australia
5. H.E. Mr. Andreas van Agt (former Prime Minister), The Netherlands
6. H.E. Mr. Bertie Ahern (former Prime Minister), Ireland
7. H.E. Dr. Oscar Arias (former President), Costa Rica
8. H.E. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (former Prime Minister), Malaysia
9. The Rt. Hon. James Bolger (former Prime Minister), New Zealand
10. H.E. Mr. Ingvar Carlsson (former Prime Minister), Sweden
11. H.E. Mr. Yasuo Fukuda (former Prime Minister), Japan
12. H.E. Mr. Goh Chok Tong (former Prime Minister), Singapore
13. H.E. Dr. Lee Hong-Koo (former Prime Minister), Korea
14. H.E. Dr. Abdel Salam Majali (former Prime Minister), Jordan
15. The Rt. Hon. Sir James Mitchell (former Prime Minister), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
16. H.E. Mr. Benjamin Mkapa (former President), Tanzania
17. H.E. Mr. Andrés Pastrana (former President), Colombia
18. H.E. Mr. Jerry Rawlings (former President), Ghana
19. H.E. Mr. Konstantinos Simitis (former Prime Minister), Greece
20. The Rt. Hon. Tung Chee Hwa (former Chief Executive), Hong Kong Administration
Associate Members
21. Mr. Mike Lazaridis, Founder, Research In Motion (Canada)
22. H.E. Dr. Lee Seung-Yun, former Deputy Prime Minister (Korea)
23. Mr. Seiken Sugiura, former Minister of Justice (Japan)
Special Guests
24. H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman H. Al-Saeed, Advisor, The Royal Court (Saudi Arabia)
25. Mr. Michael Buckley, Foreign Affairs Analyst (Canada)
26. H.E. Amb. Richard Butler, Distinguished Scholar of International Peace and Security, School of International Affairs, Penn State University (Australia)
27. Mr. Gholamali Khoshroo, Special Advisor to H.E. Mr. Seyed Mohammad KhÄtamÄ« (Iran)
28. Dr. Lawrence Lau, Ralph and Claire Landau Professor of Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China)
29. Mr. Liu Changle, Chairman and CEO, Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings, Ltd., (Hong Kong, China)
30. H.E. Mr. Isamu Miyazaki, Former Minister of Economic Planning (Japan)
31. Dr. Ahmad Moussalli, Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
32. Mr. Bob Sandford, IAC Senior Water Advisor, EPCOR Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative in support of the United Nations Water for Life Decade (Canada)
33. H.E. Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, Former State Councillor (China)
34. Dr. Henry Vaux, Jr., Chair, Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy and Professor Emeritus, University of California (U.S.A.)
35. Mr. Hiroshi Watanabe, CEO and Executive Managing Director of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (Japan)
36. Dr. Carmen Zechner, Strategic Investment Group, Royal Bank of Scotland (Austria)
37. Mr. Moneef Zou’bi, Director General, Islamic World Academy of Sciences (Jordan)
38. Dr. Chunmiao Zheng, Chair Professor of Water Resources and Director of the Center for Water Research, Peking University (China)
39. Mr. Zhu Tan, Former Vice Chairman, Tianjin Political Consultative Conference and Professor of Environmental Science Institute, Nankai University (China)
Secretary-General
40. Dr. Thomas Axworthy, President and CEO, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation (Canada)