On the afternoon of November 2nd, 2009, “2010 Global Mayors Forum Press Conference” was held successfully in Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. More than 100 distinguished guests, including representatives from Global Mayors Forum Council, officials from Chinese government, consulates in HK, representatives from reputed business community, Chinese and foreign media, etc attended at the press conference.
The guests of honors at the press conference (left to right): Ms. Zhang Peiying (senior official from Yunan Provincial Government, China), Mr. Lu Yulong (IMCC director), Mr. Wouter Molman (Exhibition Manager, Cityscape), Ms. Jin Lan (Secretary General of GMF Council), Dr. Carl Men Ky Ching (Chairman of GMF Council), Mr. Martin Brennan (Deputy CEO of ICLEI Oceania), Mr. Harry Verhaar (Sr. Director Energy & Climate Change, Philips Lighting), Ms. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi (Programme Director, CITYNET), Mr. Lam Kwong Yu (Chairman, Starlite Holdings Limited)
At the press conference, every Council members presented to the distinguished guests the detailed information about “Global Mayors Forum”, registration and participation of Chinese and foreign cities, Forum conference, business and peripheral activities, etc. They also answered questions from the Chinese and foreign journalists.
Win official supports from China government and UN organizations, aim at becoming a top level global city forum
The Global Mayors Forum (GMF) was proposed in 2005. During the past four years, the management of the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC) has visited numerous cities all over the world and has reached consensus on the launch of the GMF with related UN Departments, many international organizations and local governments. The 2010 Global Mayors Forum will be held both in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China from 5th to 8th November, 2010.
During the preparation, the GMF got unshakable support from UN-HABITAT, UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO, CPAFFC and CIFCA as the official supporting organizations that provided the Forum sufficient information, resources and experience.
The last year, the global urban development was under the influence of the global financial crisis and the spread of H1N1. Ms. Jin Lan，Secretary General of GMF Council and Executive Chairman of IMCC, said in the press conference: “All the parts including the city mayors, urban operators and investors were facing the same economic challenge. But we believe no matter how bad the situation is, the city stakeholders should gather together to exchange the thinking and seek for cooperation, fight against difficulties and create opportunities. Global Mayors Forum is not only a long term service platform, a top level high-end urban forum conceived by Chinese people in China, but also a co-operated platform for related city stakeholders to exchange management experience and promote city economic development.”
Presentations provided by the GMF Council members at the press conference (left to right, top to down): Dr. Carl Men Ky Ching (Chairman of GMF Council), Ms. Jin Lan (Representative from IMCC), Mr. Wouter Molman (Representative from Cityscape), Mr. Martin Brennan (Representative from ICLEI), Ms. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi (Representative from CITYNET), Mr. Harry Verhaar (Representative from WBCSD).
Discuss the hottest topics at the Forum and join hands with international organizations to promote the global sustainable development.
The 2010 GMF Conference includes one Plenary Session, ten Parallel Forums and five High-end Dialogues which will discuss the hottest topics in the urban development.
“In Plenary Session, the seats of one to one are designed for mayors, urban experts and enterprisers as there own demand. The main topic of this session is ‘Leadership for Urban Sustainability’. One representative among the outstanding mayors respectively from the six continents will be invited to deliver speech and share the experience on Leadership for Urban Sustainability. We expect the attendees could make discussion to find solution on economic development, environmental health and civilization. The most important feature of this forum is ten sessions of Parallel Forum which is designed per Melbourne Principles by more than 40 experts with the support of UNEP in 2002. Melbourne Principles have been currently applied by most of the cities in North America and other developed and developing cities. Therefore, according to HK, Chinese cities and most other cities features, we decided the forum theme as ‘High Growth Cities: Meeting the Challenges for Sustainability,’” said Ms. Jin Lan.
The Five High-end Dialogues consist of financial reform, climate change, food security, energy application and urban design that receive high attention from the global city stakeholders and are to be solved urgently.
Mr. Martin Brennan, Deputy CEO of ICLEI Oceania, said: “We are today living on an urbanised and globalised planet. We are also living in challenging and changing times and a commitment to sustainable growth needs to be at the core of our response to the needs of our urban populations and the challenge of our time, climate change. In fact the response to climate change rests on our capacity to create sustainable cities and thus an enduring planet. Cities will be the key to our future as we grapple with the cause and effect of climate change and secure our energy, water and food needs for future generations.”
Mr. Harry Verhaar, Sr. Director Energy & Climate Change - Philips Lighting, said：“All in all the WBCSD hopes that the cooperation with the GMF and all it’s member cities will help to save energy and money as well as cut carbon emissions. In addition an accelerated transition to a sustainable city environment will make our economies more competitive and will add green collar jobs, not the least by the renovation work on buildings and cities involved. This is a unique triple-win for all involved, and will make our cities safer and more enjoyable to live in at the same time, both for the current as well as future generations.”
A lot of guests and medias from China and foreign countries present at the press conference
Forum activities being highly attractive, more that 100 Chinese and foreign cities confirmed or to be confirmed to participate
Besides the conferences, the GMF Business Activities include 48 sessions Urban Promotion display, 15 sessions Project Presentation and 240 sessions Roundtables One to One.
“These Business Activities are not only the most valuable business part in our forum, but also the most attractive part for cities and investors. This part got widely identification from cities and major companies,” said Ms Jin Lan.
When it came to the invitation situation of “2010 Global Mayors Forum”, Dr. Carl Men Ky Ching, Chairman of GMF Council, said that the city members from the Council members’ organizations are up to 3,641 and he is confident to invite more that 100 foreign big cities to the Forum.
The statistical data shows that the number of confirmed and confirming cities out of China is around 68, including Cairo (Egypt), Frankfurt (Germany), Kathmandu (Nepal), Kazan (Russia), Curitiba (Brazil), Moshi (Tanzania), Washington (USA), Barcelona (Spain), Adelaide (Australia), mayors delegation of Albania, mayors delegation of Senegal, ect. The number of confirmed and confirming Chinese cities is around 59, including Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Kunming, Qingdao, Chengdu, Shanghai, Zhangjiagang, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan, Harbin, Urumqi, Shenzhen, Taichung, etc.
The guest was filling the GMF registration form at the press conference.
“I see this rapid urban population growth as having two major elements; first opportunity, and the other, threat. The Global Mayors Forum will be of great significance to cities. Why? Because it can help mayors, the decision makers to get valuable insight and better ideas and strategies on how to grasp or even multiply the opportunities. And at the same time, the Global Mayors Forum can also help minimise the threats, transforming them into a better way forward,” Said Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, programme director, CITYNET.
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