Peter Roberts
Chief Executive Officer, Americas
Jones Lang LaSalle
Greetings from Davos! I now understand why this locale was selected as the location for the annual World Economic Forum. Small, intimate, picturesque…a perfect setting to set aside day-to-day issues and focus on a larger agenda.
View from the drive into Davos yesterday
There’s much to look forward to in the next few days. I plan on immersing myself in the challenges facing Europe – both to understand how they might be resolved, but also to understand how they might impact Jones Lang LaSalle’s business in the year ahead. It’s a particularly relevant topic given the IMF’s prediction today that the global economy will slow this year and that the euro region will enter a mild recession.
I’m also looking forward to getting the perspective from the public sector. There are a number of heads of state here as well as leaders from important government ministries and NGO’s. What are they keeping an eye on in this uneven economy? Finally, I’ll be spending time on networking and relationship-building opportunities.
That’s my plan for now, but I’d like to hear from you about what you’re interested in. Leave me a comment or question below and I’ll address it in future posts.
I’ll be back tomorrow with my thoughts on the first day at Davos. You can also follow me on twitter – another first for me – at http://twitter.com/Peter_Roberts1.
Central and South America have a lot of government run entities. I think of Pemex in Mexico as an example of how poorly run the company is as a government entity. There are many other examples but Pemex, even though government owned, is not contributing that much in return for Mexico. Privatizing would enable it to be better run and the taxes from it would be higher than what the government is currently receiving.
Hey Peter
Following the latest from Thomas Friedman, (“Average is Over” – link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/friedman-average-is-over.html) Friedman discusses how disruptive innovation is happening faster and faster in today’s markets. Chinese are not displacing American workers in manufacturing, cheap robots & techonology are. Thus, a greater need for increased focus on education. Being average doesn’t cut it anymore. Are there sessions at WEF targeting education as an economic and homeland safety issue?
Have fun and be safe,
Joe
Greetings from Pasadena, CA!
On the heels of President Obama’s State of the Union Address, I am curious to know how his message of hope has been received by the global community.
Thank you for representing us at the WEF!
Warm Regards,
Susan
Hi Peter,
Really looking forward to your insight over the coming days (and, more pictures from all the events and scenery!).
Question: Understanding that you’ll attend sessions pertaining to urban development and infrastructure investment that feature speakers from global public and private sectors, has there been discussion consistent with (or contradictory to) the findings of the “World of Cities” paper? As you know, the paper’s findings outline where investments will be over the next few decades and which cities will be the world’s 30 largest by 2020. I’m curious if discussion favors the findings, or suggests investments lay elsewhere — either industry-wise or location-wise.
Enjoy yourself!