Speaker

Børge Brende is a former President and CEO of the World Economic Forum. He now advises leading companies and institutions on geopolitics and trade. Previously, he served as Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Minister of Climate and the Environment. He was Deputy Chairman of the Norwegian Conservative Party and a Member of Parliament for more than a decade, and earlier served as a full-time city councillor in his hometown of Trondheim. His international and public service roles have included Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and Secretary-General of the Norwegian Red Cross. He has served on the boards of Statoil and the Norwegian School of Economics, and chaired Mesta, Norway’s largest contracting group in road and highway maintenance. He was also a Director of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance.