Since 1994, The International Forum has been in
China creating experiences for Leaders. This Leaders Forum in 2004
is about China and the East Asian region
and its relationship with the rest of the world. It's unique feature
is that it takes participants to witness
first-hand the changes taking place in China and enables them to
relate that to what they know or have already heard about China.
It is an on-the-ground experience which
combines the rich content of The International Forum and its resource
people in a week long encounter with people where they live and work
- including: entrepreneurs, local company managers of foreign enterprises,
doctors, teachers, students, village and town officials, artists,
musicians, workers in State Owned Enterprises and those leading social
initiatives.
This Traveling Forum is also an opportunity to
learn from many different leaders (from many different
cultures) and to share insights on some of the issues each faces
professionally and personally in their role as leader.
It integrates history, art and culture with the
economic, social and political agenda topics and looks at China and the
region from this perspective.
This Forum will cover such themes as:
Itinerary:
The Program begins in Shanghai early on the
morning of April 19 and travels to Hangzhou in neighboring Zhejiang
province. From there it moves to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei
province, in the center of China on the Yangtze River. The program ends
after dinner on April 23. For those not continuing on to Tibet, the
Forum will return to Shanghai on the morning of April 24 in order to make
connecting flights elsewhere.
April 19 - 20: Shanghai
In Shanghai, participants meet with business
leaders and employees of foreign (American, German, French, Singaporean,
Korean and Japanese) companies operating in China. It is an
opportunity to learn face-to-face from people who have led organizations
in China for at least the past 10 years and who have immersed themselves
in Chinese culture. Their wealth of experience and insight provide a
lens through which one can view some of the many changes taking place in
China today. Young people from all over China have come to find work
in Shanghai. Discussions with them reveal aspirations, frustrations,
hopes and insight into China's future.
Shanghai experiences all the benefits and
challenges of an exploding urban center. Meetings with people in
hospitals, schools, social service organizations and the arts give
participants insight into the changes taking place in the urban societies
and the challenges facing education, healthcare, the elderly and the
migrant population.
As the gateway to China and the city
traditionally reserved for foreigners, Shanghai also provides the right
setting to consider China's relationship with the region and the rest of
the world. Of particular interest is its changing relationship with
the US and what the possible scenarios for this might be for the
future. China's domestic challenges including an aging population
and rising unemployment as well as its increased need for energy sources
will be discussed with experts and people involved with these issues on a
day to day basis.
April 21-22: Hangzhou
Hangzhou, once the capital of the Southern Song
dynasty, today is the site of one of China's best universities and hot bed
for many of China's new entrepreneurs. The city provides an
opportunity to experience China's growing "private" sector
through meetings in companies with young entrepreneurs involved in
software and technology development. Participants will speak
directly with young business owners who have begun to expand globally in
search of new ideas and markets. The "private sector" is
also dominated by companies who have been transformed from state owned or
town and village enterprises to semi private companies. Participants
will meet with two leaders who have taken old and inefficient state
companies and turned them around to now compete globally in manufacturing
and retail.
Discussion with employees of some of these
companies provides insight into management philosophies, approaches to
creativity and an insatiable appetite to learn and to succeed.
This city also provides an opportunity to explore
the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, particularly in combination
with Western medicine. The principles of balance in life and health
are discussed and experienced as participants have the opportunity to
receive medical diagnoses and counseling from experienced doctors
and pharmacists.
April 23: Wuhan
Considered to be at the center of China, where
the Hanshui River meets the Yangtze River, it is the largest inland port
in the middle section of the Yangtze and a major stop on the
Beijing-Guangzhou railway. It is also part of China's "go
west" initiative to bring economic development further into the
interior. Surrounded on all sides by rich farmland, the city is
slowly taking over rural areas as it expands and develops.
In Wuhan we meet with Chinese and foreign firms
from biotechnology to automobiles. University students from all over
China come to Wuhan to study at one of the 47 universities in this city
and will speak frankly with us about their job prospects, their home towns
and their views on China and its future.
Wuhan is home to many treasures in particular a
collection of Bronze bells and musical instruments from the the Warring
States period (482-221 BC). Viewed as part of the mandate of heaven,
music played a key role in the moral development of the gentleman's
character. The order established in music was presumed to be a model
of Heaven's perfect harmony. The twelve note non-tempered scale that
was created in China in 400BC is both a scientific and artistic
wonder. Participants discover the secrets of this era not well known
to many in the West.
The city also provides the site for a discussion
of the ancient thought leader, Confucius, and how what he wrote over 2,000
years ago still has relevance to understanding China and Chinese culture
today.
The villages surrounding Wuhan provide insight into
China's changing rural landscape and the social challenges brought about by
China's economic reform. How displaced farmers are finding alternate
sources of livelihood and what their hopes are for their children are shared in
informal talks with them.
Participants will meet the owner and employees of a
small machine and die shop in the center of Wuhan, which hires laborers from
surrounding villages and produces plastic components for export.
These face-to-face encounters with people from
all parts of Chinese society, economy and leadership will be considered in
an individual and group project for presentation and discussion on the
final evening of the Forum.
Why China?
We have selected China as the site for this next
Leaders Forum for these reasons:
The Significance of the Greater China
Economy
Resources for this Forum
This Forum draws leaders from global
companies in Japan, Korea and South East
Asia into small discussions in Shanghai. It also includes visits
with many different types of leaders and individuals in reformed State Owned
enterprises, private companies, other organizations, hospitals, schools,
clinics as well as artists, musicians, farmers and migrant workers in the
interior of China.
Forum resources and moderators for this Forum will include: Michael
Alexander, Kenneth
DeWoskin, Nan Doyal,
Gordon Redding, Tianxiang
Zhan
Other
Questions:
There are important themes to
understand as one explores the future successes and challenges of
China. The potential successes and challenges become clearer
when one meets with the individuals who are integrally involved in the
ways in which China is changing. There is much to be discovered in
China that is also very relevant to our own worlds, at home, in business,
in our communities, families and countries.
