World
business millennium Congress set for Budapest
Paris, 6 April
1998 - The International Chamber of Commerce, the
world business organization, has decided to hold its World Congress in Budapest
in the year 2000.
The ICC Council voted unanimously to accept ICC
Hungary's offer to host the Congress. The Council represents thousands of member
companies and business associations in more than 130 countries.
The 33rd ICC World Congress will bring
together hundreds of top executives from all parts of the world for two days
of debate on major global and regional business and economic issues. They will
be joined by government ministers from many countries, world-famous economists
and senior officials of leading international organizations. The exact date
of the Congress has yet to be fixed.
Dr Lajos Tolnay, President of ICC Hungary, said:
"Budapest is the right choice for the World Congress that opens the next
millennium because Hungary is spearheading the economic revitalization of the
Central European states. The ICC Hungary National Committee supports the Hungarian
business community by providing access to the mainstream of international business."
Maria Livanos Cattaui, Secretary General of ICC,
commented: "By the year 2000 we expect Hungary to hav
e further consolidated
its position as one of the most dynamic economies in Central Europe and a real
player in the global marketplace. This is why Budapest is our choice for the
first ICC World Congress to be held in Central and Eastern Europe."
ICC Congresses are held in a different country
every three years at the invitation of an ICC national committee. They are the
supreme assembly of ICC, to which all member companies and organizations send
senior representatives. The last Congress was in Shanghai in April last year
on the theme "Asia in the Global Economy." Other recent Congresses
were in Cancun (Mexico), Hamburg and New Delhi.
ICC Hungary was the ICC's first national committee
in Central Europe when it was founded in May 1996. Hungarian business links
with ICC have existed for many years. In 1991, the Association of Hungarian
Chambers of Commerce became a direct member of the ICC, a special arrangement
that allows companies in countries where there is no national committee to join
the world business organization.
With 48 member companies and 13 policy commissions
covering all main aspects of international business, ICC Hungary serves as a
bridge between Hungarian companies and business associations and the wider world
business community. Among recent initiatives was an international conference
on Bank Guarantees and Banking Terms of Payment in Budapest last September.
ICC is the only representative body that speaks
with authority on behalf of enterprises from all sectors in every part of the
world. It promotes an open international trade and investment system and the
market economy worldwide.
ICC Conferences
and congresses