Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme to attend this year's Bled Strategic Forum

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme to attend this year's Bled Strategic Forum

We are proud to announce that the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium, H.E. Mr Yves Leterme, will attend this year's Bled Strategic Forum. His presence is particularly important in the light of Belgium's current presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Along with Prime Minister Leterme, other guests already confirmed are H.E. Mr Amr Moussa, Secretary General of League of the Arab States; Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Dr Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment; Hon. Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence of Canada; Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Secretary-General of External Relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil; and Mr Felipe Gonzales, former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain and Chair of the Reflection Group. On the invitation of the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovenia, Tomaž F. Lovše, the keynote address at the opening dinner of the Forum will be given by General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), former U.S. Secretary of State (2001-2005). Many other government and international organisation representatives from around the world, as well as business people, intellectuals, academics and media representatives will also attend the conference.

In the past four years, the Bled Strategic Forum, co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and the Centre for European Perspective, has established itself as one of the leading international gatherings in the region. This year's conference, under the title ''The Global Outlook for the Next Decade,'' will tackle some of the major challenges of the decade, such as energy transition, the water challenge, revitalising the economy and the transformational power of the Internet. We are also planning an exchange of views on the role of the EU in a multi-polar world, ways to reconnect the Western Balkans, and the regional challenges of Central Asia.

You can learn more about the Bled Strategic Forum on our website at www.bledstrategicforum.org, where you can also find the latest conference programme.

Source: http://www.mzz.gov.si/nc/si/splosno/cns/novica/article/141/27274/