September 12, 2018

The event will focus on strengthening global trade and economic alliances – Prime Minister Theresa May, President Enrique Peña Nieto, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, President Iván Duque Márquez, President Cyril Ramaphosa, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Baidu CEO Robin Li, Ford CEO Jim Hackett, Dangote Group CEO Aliko Dangote, Incoming Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and Unilever CEO Paul Polman will participate

 Global Call for Climate Progress will be focus of One Planet Summit in afternoon hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, and UN Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg

 Morning Consult poll shows 69% of U.S. business leaders concerned about possible Great Recession repeat; 63% agree free trade is good for U.S.

NEW YORK, NY — Today, Michael R. Bloomberg announced 50 heads of state from six continents have already committed to attend the second annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum (GBF), making it one of the most-attended events by heads of government in 2018. They will join over 250 of the world’s most prominent business leaders to strengthen economic prosperity and collaborate on trade issues, globalization, innovation, and competition. If the companies represented at the Global Business Forum were a country, its economy would be the third largest in the world. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Global Business Forum will take place in New York City on September 26^th at the Plaza Hotel alongside the 73^rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May; Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto; New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern; French President Emmanuel Macron; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez; Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari; Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad; Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and dozens of other chiefs of state and heads of government from the world’s most critical trading regions will join Mark Carney, Bank of England Governor; Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund Managing Director; and a robust E.U. delegation including Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission; Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President for the European Commission; Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President for the European Commission; and Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, at the 2018 Bloomberg Global Business Forum along with business leaders such as Carlos Brito, Anheuser-Busch Inbev CEO; Jean-Louis Chaussade, Suez CEO; Roger Ferguson, TIAA President and CEO; Larry Fink, BlackRock Chairman and CEO; Kenneth Griffin, Citadel Founder and CEO; Jim Hackett, Ford Motor Company CEO; Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO; Robin Li, Baidu Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO; Paul Polman, Unilever CEO; Patrick Pouyanné, Total S.A. CEO; Ginni Rometty, IBM President and CEO; Feike Sijbesma, Royal DSM Chairman and CEO; David Solomon, Goldman Sachs incoming CEO; and John Zimmer, Lyft Co-founder and President.

As tensions around tariffs create economic uncertainty in many industries and countries around the world, the second annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum is the only venue dedicated to encouraging presidents, prime ministers, and CEOs to focus on mutual opportunities to increase trade, investment, and continued growth. The dialogue at GBF will strengthen globalization and be a powerful counterweight to talk of trade wars.

The GBF agenda includes a morning plenary from 8:30am-10:30 am, and breakout sessions and press conferences between 10:30am-2:00pm. Topics include trade and shared prosperity, the impact of artificial intelligence, the great global migration, infrastructure and climate resilience, and the state of global leadership to navigate these challenges. Further details will be announced soon.

The 2018 Bloomberg Global Business Forum partners are Alphabet Inc./Google CFO Ruth Porat; Baidu Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO Robin Li; Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies Founder, Michael R. Bloomberg; BNP Paribas CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé; Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam; Dangote Group President/Chief Executive Aliko Dangote; Engie Global CEO Isabelle Kocher; EXOR Chairman and CEO John Elkann; LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault; Mahindra Group Chairman Anand G. Mahindra; Misk Foundation Chairman and His Royal Highness Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz; and SOHO China Founder and CEO Xin (Shynn) Zhang.

Recognizing that the race against global warming is a shared responsibility requiring cooperation between governments, leaders from the public and private sectors, and civil society, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, and United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg will host the second One Planet Summit on September 26^th from 2:00pm-4:30pm at the Plaza Hotel. The 2018 Summit will review progress made in implementing the 12 international commitments made at the inaugural One Planet event in December 2017 and build trust and collaboration for ongoing multilateral climate action.

According to a recent Bloomberg Global Business Forum-Morning Consult poll*, business leaders have conflicting opinions on their confidence in the U.S. economy, with 46 percent saying it is headed in the right direction vs. 45 percent who say it is on the wrong track. While 60 percent of business leaders polled noted they are confident that recent economic growth will continue at its current pace into 2019, 42 percent of those are only somewhat confident. Adding to this soft sense of confidence, 69 percent are concerned about the possibility of another 2008-like recession, with 60 percent saying their company is adequately prepared in the event of a recession and 27 percent saying they are not. On trade, most business leaders (63 percent) agree free trade is good for the United States because it opens new markets for U.S. businesses, however only 30 percent can confidently say their business takes advantage of a current free trade agreement.

Morning Consult is a leading survey research, media and technology company. More details of the Bloomberg Global Business Forum-Morning Consult poll can be found here.

* This poll was conducted between August 23-August 29, 2018, among a national sample of 279 Business Leaders. The interviews were conducted online. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.

Please visit www.BloombergGBF.com for the latest program details and confirmed speakers.

Follow Mike Bloomberg on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and Bloomberg Philanthropies on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter for GBF news and highlights. Please use the official forum hashtag #BloombergGBF.

Members of the media interested in registering to cover these events can visit this link for more information.

For additional questions about the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, please email press@BloombergGBF.com.

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About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies works in 480 cities in more than 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $702 million. For more information, please visit www.bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.