Speakers and Topics

November 5 and 6, 2004, Zagreb, Croatia                                             

The first International Leaders Summit (ILS) scheduled for November 5 and 6, 2004, in Zagreb, Croatia brought together reform-minded senior government officials, members of parliament joined by regional and international business and communication media leaders and experts from Europe and US to discuss themes of fundamental importance to emerging and established democracies with a focus on Economic Growth: Unleashing Free Market Forces. Speakers and experts presented successful models of economic reforms and deregulation and how regional and international leaders couragously implement reforms. 

The ILS provided an extraordinary opportunity for participants to develop high-level personal contacts and meet and consult with fellow leaders and experts in the strategic area of economic growth and how it can be effectively implemented. This historic conference was designed to inspire, inform and empower leaders and participants. Through strategic panels participants tapped into a wealth of resources, ideas and successful models of reform, with a particular focus on practical approaches intended to empower them in promoting and implementing reforms in their own nations.

International Leaders Summit encompassed the following ILS Strategic Themes:

Property Rights and Rule of Law       

Privatization and Deregulation         

Role of Tax Policy in Influencing Economic Growth

Economic Reporting and the Importance of Free Media        

Economic Freedom - Creating a Favorable Economic Environment

Confirmed ILS Speakers included:  

Dr. Ivo Sanader, Prime Minister, Croatia

Dr. Miomir ??u??ul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Croatia

Ivan ? uker, Minister of Finance, Croatia

Vladimir Vrankovi?‡, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy, Croatia

John Blundell, Director General, Institute of Economic Affairs.
John Blundell is a Director of Fairbridge, a Director of the International Policy Network, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and a Board member of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, the Institute for Economic Studies (Europe) in Paris, France and Vice President of the Mont P?©lerin Society

Dr Eamonn Butler, President, Adam Smith Institute. A former researcher on Washington's Capitol Hill, he edited The British Insurance Broker for many years, has published intellectual biographies of leading economists, and is co-author of Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls.

Martin Chren, Director, F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava, Secretary General of the Slovak Taxpayers Association

Helen Disney, President, Stockholm Network, UK. Formerly an editorial writer for The Times and an editorial writer and commentator for the Daily Express.

Goran Gazivoda, Deputy CEO, HVB Splitska Banka d.d., Croatia

Ivan Miklos, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Slovak Republic and Former President of Slovakian Economic Think Tank, M.E.S.A.

Dr. Daniel Mitchell, McKenna Senior Fellow in Political Economy, The Heritage Foundation. Heritage's chief expert on tax policy and economy. Former economist for US Senator Bob Packwood and the US Senate Finance Committee. Former Director of Tax and Budget Policy for Citizens for a Sound Economy

Joseph P. Mohorovic, Senior Policy Advisor, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of Chairman Hal Stratton

Dr. Jan Oravec, President of The Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia and President of  The F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava

Doris Pack, Member of European Parliament, Chairwoman, Delegation for Relations with the countries of South-East Europe

Udo Prenzel, Deutsche Welle, Germany

Dr. Alvin Rabushka, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. In 1980, he served on President Ronald Reagan's Tax Policy Task Force. He has lectured on tax policy in China, Hong Kong, Israel, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Canada, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and other countries

John Willman, Chief Leader Writer and Associate Editor, Financial Times

The ILS is an initiative of World Development and Empowerment (WDE) and the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy (AIPP).

World Development and Empowerment (WDE) is a US based non-profit, non-governmental organization implementing sustainable programs that affirm human dignity and empower individuals to build productive societies through educational enterprises, humanitarian initiatives, and economic development.

For more information, please visit: www.ils-wde.org .