The International Business Leaders’Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai was initiated in 1989 and has since been held once a year. The advisory council consists of well-known international corporate leaders. At the recently concluded council, delegates discussed topics centering upon the theme of“the Hosting of World Expo and the Outlook for Shanghai’s Service Sector”. Below are some excerpts of the speeches delivered by business leaders at the meeting.

Build a digitalized metropolis

Speaker: Klaus Kleinfeld (Siemens)

I want to discuss how the World Expo will impact the development of the information service sector in Shanghai. Shanghai will have the opportunity to grow into a digitalized metropolis in the future. The theme of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo is“Better City, Better Life”, which, in my opinion, can reflect the quintessence for this great city. Shanghai will become one of the best places to live, and one of the most adorable and efficient cities in the world. Opportunities arising from the hosting of the World Expo will promote the all-round development of the city’s service sector, which, I firmly believe, will help the city transform into an economic hub with leading manufacturing and service industries from its current manufacturing-based economy.

My hopes are on the development of culture

Speaker: John Elkann (FIAT)

I would like to begin with an example that I am very familiar with, as it is related to Turin, the city where I live and work.

The 20th Olympic Winter Games will be held on 10-26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy, which coincides with the deepened economic restructuring of Turin that aims to create more sectors such as tourism, culture, service, design and advanced training to the city’s economy apart from the traditional manufacturing and industrial sectors.

It will be a daunting task, but the government of Turin and companies in the cities have already made tremendous efforts to focus their resources and energy on the implementation of sever major programs in order to achieve the restructuring target. Investment into arts and cultural programs will always be a winning choice for a city, as it will make the city more beautiful and more comfortable to live for the residents of the city.

According to relevant polls and surveys, the index for the quality of living in Turin inched up three percent in the period between 2003 and 2004.

This is also my heartfelt wish for Shanghai before, during and after the 2010 World Expo.

Better city life will lure more talented people

Speaker: Lim Haw Kuang (Shell)

The 2010 World Expo will be a great event for Shanghai to exhibit to the world its charms as a choice city for sightseeing, business and living place. The World Expo will not only help the city of Shanghai improve its infrastructure facilities, boost its living environment, display better urban image to the world, but also attract more talents to work in Shanghai. If these talented people all choose to live in Shanghai, Shanghai will eventually join the ranks of London, Paris, New York and Tokyo as major metropolis in the World.

Build Shanghai into a global conference center

Speaker: David Clementi (Prudential)

Shanghai has many advantages in developing its convention sector. The city boasts a convenient airport and railway transport system, a relatively rich variety of boarding, eating, and shopping centers. For global visitors, the city is full of vigor and vitality, and the pricing of its services is quite reasonable. Nevertheless, the city is still facing many challenges if it wants to grow into a top conventional center globally. Many conference organizers are worried about problems concerning language proficiency, cultural differences, safety, and service standards. Shanghai must solve these mindset (as well as any material) problems in order to improve its image.

The 2010 World Expo will bring an excellent opportunity for Shanghai to prove that it is a real convention center in the world.

Shanghai: the future destination for passenger liners

Speaker: Jacob Wallenberg (Investor AB)

Since its inception, the“passenger liner economy”has been expanding at a double-digit rate. Currently, the passenger liner sector has identified Asia as one of the major markets to be developed, and China is, without any doubt, deemed to be the jewel of the crown.

How could Shanghai turn itself into a more attractive destination for passenger liners?

The development of ports is the primary task for a city aiming to enhance its competitiveness. If possible, the port should be close to the center of a city so that passenger liners could moor at the port directly instead of relying upon barges, which is very important. For companies operating passenger liners, safety is of paramount significance, and it is quite important to make sure that passengers could enjoy sightseeing along the river in a safe and quite environment. Infrastructure facilities, including transport transfer facility such as airports, the transportation from airports to sea ports, hotels for overnight stopovers and facilities to handle packages are also very important.

It goes with no doubt that Shanghai will play an important role in the promotion of passenger liner tourism in China as well as in Asia in the future, and it will be an innovative idea for the city to promote this during the 2010 World Expo.

Developing the tourism industry in Shanghai

Speaker: Vincent H.S. Lo (Shui On Group)

Shanghai is not only a commercial city, but also should take advantage of the hosting of the World Expo to grow itself into a tourism city. During the World Expo, millions of tourists will not only visit the Expo Park, but also be interested in seeing the city’s architecture, streets, lanes, shopping centers as well as the costumes, living, eating and means of transportation for local residents. Therefore, the whole city will be turned into resources for tourism. Then it would be quite important for us to improve the levels of civilization if we regard the whole city as a tourism area.