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Fourth City of London Biennial Meeting

Great success for Centre of Shipping, Trade and Finance

Wednesday, 21 December, 2005

This month Cass Business School hosted the Fourth City of London Biennial Meeting at the International Maritime Organization. The two-day conference brought together over 550 delegates including world business leaders, policy-makers, academics and students, to discuss issues of challenge, competition, innovation and their consequences within a global context.

The four themes of the conference were World Economy and Business, Financial Markets, Energy, and Maritime Business. The keynote speech was delivered by Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Both Dr Robert Ting-Jieh Chu, President of the Taiwan An Feng Steel Group, and Lord Bagri, Chairman of Metdist, focused on emerging markets in the Far East. The former spoke on ‘China and Taiwan: The Uncertain Future’, drawing on factors fuelling tensions in the Far East such as politics and corruption, the decreasing reliance between China and Taiwan, and the transformation of China from ‘world factory’ to ‘world market’. Lord Bagri delivered his speech on ‘India – the Story of a Powerhouse.’

One of the highlights of the event was an announcement made by Vice Chancellor David Rhind: Stelios Haji-Ioannou, EasyGroup Chairman and Cass alumnus, will fund ten scholarships per annum for the next ten years starting in September 2006. The scholarship competition is open to all European citizens, one will be for an MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance or Logistics, Trade and Finance, and one for the full-time MBA programme. The remaining scholarships are open to those wanting to study a finance related postgraduate degree at Cass. Stelios said:

“I feel my time has come to start giving back to society and giving back on education is the best means of empowering people to change their lives, businesses and sometimes their countries.”

The Biennial also coincided with the celebration of 21 years of the Centre of Shipping, Trade and Finance, founded by Costas Grammenos, Professor of Shipping, Trade and Finance at Cass. The Centre was established to develop postgraduate studies in shipping, trade and finance. Its MSc courses – MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance (est. 1984) and sister programme MSc in Logistics, Trade and Finance (est. 1997) – fulfil these aims. In 2003, a new specialist programme in Energy, Trade and Finance was launched.

Throughout its history, the Centre has provided a forum for international dialogue between industry, government and academic leaders. An international orientation, strong links with the City of London and alumni in leading City institutions have helped to develop the Centre’s domestic and international reputation. The Biennial is an extension of the aim to provide a stimulating forum that embraces topical international issues, and it now stands in its own right as a prestigious event for City practitioners, institutions, policy-makers and academics.

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Biennial Programme

Dr Faith Birol, 'World Energy Outlook 2005 - Middle East & North Africa Insights'

Professor David Blake, 'Ageing and the Financial Markets'

Wilber Colmerauer, 'Hedge Fund Risks and Myths'

Jean-Francois Cristau, 'Shipbuilding Challenges - Prospects'

Andrew Gowers, 'A World in Search of Leadership'

Professor Costas Th. Grammenos, 'The London Maritime Cluster: Academic Research & Innovation'

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, ‘Why Should Governments Encourage Entrepreneurship?’

Professor Harry Kat, 'Replicating Hedge Fund Returns'

Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach, 'Making Poverty History: the Challenge Facing G8 Countries'

Thomas Huertas, 'Financial Markets'