100 χρόνια του Διεθνούς Εμπορικού Επιμελητηρίου στο Ζάππειο(ΦΩΤΟ)

 Η Εθνική Ελληνική Επιτροπή του Διεθνούς Εμπορικού Επιμελητηρίου (ICC Ελλάς) και ο Πρόεδρος της  Πέτρος Δούκας, δήμαρχος Σπάρτης, καθώς και το International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), τίμησαν τα 100 χρόνια αριστείας από την ίδρυσή του ICC, γιόρτασαν την εκατονταετηρίδα / ICC@100 στο Ζάππειο Μέγαρο, σήμερα  9 Οκτωβρίου 2019 .
Την έναρξη κήρυξε ο Υπουργός Ανάπτυξης & Επενδύσεων, κ. Α. Γεωργιάδης και την λήξη των εργασιών ο Υπουργός Εξωτερικών κ. Ν. Δένδιας,παρουσία του   ο Υφυπουργού Εξωτερικών Κώστα Φραγκογιάννη και της Αλεξάνδρας Μητσοτάκη.
Στην εκδήλωση του ICC@100, το παρόν έδωσαν  προσωπικότητες του πολιτικού, επιχειρηματικού και πνευματικού κόσμου απ΄ όλη την Ευρώπη,ενώ φιλοξένησε μία σειρά ομιλιών για την παγκόσμια επιχειρηματικότητα του επόμενου αιώνα, μεταξύ των οποίων και  συζήτηση για τον ρόλο των  θεσμικών  οργάνων του Bretton Woods & του Παγκόσμιου Οργανισμού Εμπορίου (ΠΟΕ) στην παγκόσμια οικονομική ανάπτυξη και συζήτηση προσωπικοτήτων για το αναδυόμενο ζήτημα της «Χρήσης του Διαστήματος στην Ηλεκτρονική Οικονομία».

Το βραβείο «Άξιος Έλληνας», απένειμε ο  Πρόεδρος του Διεθνούς Εμπορικού Επιμελητηρίου / International Chamber of Commerce, στον πρ. Πρωθυπουργό  Λουκά Παπαδήμο
Η εκδήλωση τελούσε υπό την Αιγίδα του Προέδρου της Δημοκρατίας κυρίου Προκόπιου Παυλόπουλου.

Η ομιλία του Πέτρου Δούκα:

Dear Prime Minister Lucas Papademos,
Dear Minister Adonis Georgiadis
Dear Minister Konstantine Fragkogiannis
Dear Friends,
Dear Paul Polman, Chairman of The International Chamber of Commerce based in Paris!
Dear Ambassadors
Dear ICC Presidents from Mexico to Brussels, from Cyprus to Pakistan,

We are proud to host you here today!

Let me first thank
-Nico Vernico, our fm.Chairman of ICC Greece for really pulling through today’s historic event!

His work and attention to every detail was indispensable!

-And Filip Ioannou, our ICC Greece Manager, for his long hours and hard work!

-Many thanks to our Board of Directors, for their full support,

-and Achilles Tsaltas and the Athens Democracy Forum team
-to Christina Vagena, President of Zappeion for hosting us today,

-and Antigoni Zorba and the Simeon Tsomokos Team!

—Many thanks to The National Bank of Greece for their generous support!
It is much appreciated!

Well done!

Dear friends
—We are very excited to host, here in beautiful Athens, the 100-year Celebrations from the creation of The International Chamber of Commerce!!

Where you are walking now, all over this place, giants have walked!
•Theseus •Solon •Miltiades •Themistocles •Aristeides •Kimon •Pericles •Feidias •Anaxagoras •Thucydides – the World’s greatest historian •Socrates •Plato •Aristotle •Isocrates – one of the World’s top political scientists of all times •Demosthenes ….
…. and so many others..

-What an inspiration to feel them around us!!

-They are the fathers of modern western civilization!

And based on their thinking, western societies and humanity has been moving forward!

Ladies & Gentlemen,
Dear friends,
The World has enjoyed virtually 75 years of relative peace and prosperity!

Yes there have been many conflicts, but they were local in nature!

And based on this relative calm, Humanity has been moving forward and connecting faster & more efficiently!

—More & better airplanes
—Faster trains
—More bridges (Jiaozhou Bay Bridge)
—5G connections = greater speed to move more data, lower latency (to be more responsive), and the ability to connect a lot more devices at once (for sensors and smart devices).
—Artificial Intelligence
—Facebook, Instagram, connecting billions across the Globe!

And as we connect through the internet, Data-mining companies analyze the way we use the web and, now, know more about us and our behavior, and our preferences than the top psychologists!

-Orwell’s 1984 BIG BROTHER is here!

But at the same time, as we progress,

….. We are steadily destroying our environment
——-We at ICC Greece and our ICC Greece Energy & Environmental Change Cluster, are very strong proponents of planting billions of trees 🌲 of whatever variety science suggests!

…. furthermore, at the same time,
—income inequalities are becoming bigger and bigger, with an eroding middle class!

—-The wealthiest 1% owns 47% of the World’s wealth!

…. As Aristotle wrote in his Politics, you need a strong middle class to stabilize the system that is torn by the conflicts between rich and poor!
…. and you need a strong middle class to worry and take action to save the planet!

BUT WE DON’T HAVE A STRONG MIDDLE CLASS

—Aristotle, also wrote something else:
“People cannot bear their good fortune for too long”,
sooner or later they will do something to screw things up!

—- About 3 weeks ago, The WTO – The World Trade Organization, concluded that the USA may impose up to $10 billion in tariffs against the European Union, as a final result of the 15-year dispute over Airbus subsidies!
For the first time an Organization that promotes freer trade, sanctions the imposition of tariffs!

—- Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists on a full BREXIT with a customs border in Northern Ireland!

—- President Trump proclaimed that his priority is Patriotism, not Globalization,

Sounds reasonable?
To very many, “Of course it does!”
Who does not feel very strongly about his Country’s interests??

Yes, but in the end, all of us patriots will be trying to grab a bigger share of a shrinking 🥧 pie!

Human ingenuity needs space!
Any innovation, every business, needs customers!

Every idea needs a bigger audience

Every business needs bigger markets!

The smaller the markets,
….the fewer the customers,
….the poorer the business!
….the poorer the exchange of ideas and knowledge!!

This is what ICC has been proclaiming for decades now!

Let humanity prosper from more international transactions!

Our ICC
—Paris Headquarters and
—over 90 National ICC Committees around the World and the
—The World Chambers Federation,
as well as
—-numerous ICC Committees of experts,

…. stand ready to support every business’ international ambition!

And ICC in Greece has been doing a lot of work to connect businesses!

We have mobilized our teams
…. On Arbitration
…. On Energy & Climate Change
…. On Intellectual Property
…. and our ICC Greece Business Women Initiative is rapidly emerging and developing into Greece’s top women’s organization!

Please join ICC Greece and help Greece and the World become better places for our kids to live and work and raise their families!

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Creativity, Growth and expansion is in our human 🧬 DNA!
Lets not keep it stranded in our grandfathers’ little villages!

And how does Greece fit in what i have described?

We are an island 🌴 of stability!
We have a new Government that favors
businesses & innovation

We have a number of sectors worth looking into:
—-Food & Agribusiness
—-Tourism
—-Real-Estate
—-Shipping (some of the top managerial shipping talent in the world)
—-Logistics
—-Insurance
—-Engineering & software talent!

Just to name a few!

Dear Minister,
Dear Paul
Dear Friends, Members & guests of the ICC world family, we are very proud and very happy to have you here with us today, and hope you will have a great time!

And may I remind you that next year -2020- Greece and Sparta and the free World, will be celebrating the 2500 Years from the famous Naval Battle of Salamis and The Battle of Thermopylae, and commemorating the valor and sacrifice of King Leonídas of Sparta, the “300”, and the 700 Thespians who fought for freedom and democracy!

As Mayor of The City of Sparta, let me extend to you an invitation to visit us!

We are really proud to have you all here today!
Thank you and enjoy the event!