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Welcome Speech by André Lussi, Chairman of the Edmond Israel Foundation, on 11 November 1999
Excellencies, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the fifth 'Vision for Europe Award'. This has now become something of an established tradition here in Luxembourg, bringing together people from the world of business, finance, government and education.
This year we find ourselves in the position of thinking about the future just 50 days before the Year 2000. A time when people are not just reflecting on a year past but on a Millennium passing.
I would like to share with you some thoughts that will hopefully provide a context for the great variety of comments we will hear this evening.
1. A New Economy
I firmly believe that we are standing on the threshold of a new economy. A new economy in Europe and globally. In Europe the continuing advance towards closer integration is making Euroland a real place. The euro, and greater economic co-operation through the European Central Bank, is driving this process forward. In the new Europe, economies are becoming so inter-twined that war is no longer a political option.
On the global scale I believe we are seeing a new way of working with the advent of e-commerce and knowledge management. We are becoming new types of workers, knowledge workers in an economic world that is deconstructing. What do I mean by this?
I mean that the old barriers in all our businesses and activities are coming down and creating new spaces in which we operate. The nature of work is changing to deal with these falling barriers, these collapsing boundaries. In these new spaces there are new threats and opportunities for us all, and we are called upon to reflect upon them.
2. Our Vision of the European Clearing House
In the world of money, for instance, information about money is increasingly more important than money itself. There is an old saying that if you see a Swiss Banker jump out of the window you should follow him, because wherever he lands there is money. In our modern economy, the Swiss Banker will land in information. In the new information economy, this has led Cedel International to embark on an exciting journey by creating a European clearing house. The introduction of the euro made it possible to effect such a journey. The euro means the boundaries between domestic markets are falling, and we saw an opportunity for our business in the post-euro environment.
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To launch a European clearing house we started with a common vision with Deutsche Börse Clearing resulting in our merger with the German domestic depository. This allowed us to collapse the boundaries between the domestic and the international markets, the debt and equity markets, Commercial Bank money and Central Bank money, Over-the-Counter and Stock Exchange trading.
These markets are thus rationalised for customers in a new market space. It lowers costs and achieves efficiency. We could do this because we handle the new dynamics of information. We looked beyond notions of traditional market thinking and structures. From the beginning we said this was the right action at the right time, and we said this because I firmly believe we caught a mood in our business. We built on the recognition that change was needed for the new world that is opening up for our customers.
There has been great excitement in our business since we announced our vision on 14 May of this year, an excitement that was given life because we caught the imagination of our customers and our market.
3. The Knowledge Economy
A critical part of our thinking is the recognition that we are increasingly a knowledge economy. According to a recent OECD study, knowledge-based industries have been outpacing the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for many years in virtually all OECD countries. We are spending more on resources for the production of knowledge and investing more in our people to keep up with the pace of this growth.
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"A critical part of our thinking is the recognition that we are increasingly a knowledge economy..." |
The Internet and e-commerce are key drivers in this change, which is increasing this new market space and driving research and development efforts. Innovation calls for greater co-operation between business organisations, universities and research institutes.
The Edmond Israel Foundation focuses on ideas and issues in the building of a new Europe. One way in which we can do this is the exporting of knowledge. An ongoing initiative we have is the subsidising of students from Eastern Europe to attend the INSEAD MBA programme. By building knowledge bridges with Eastern Europe we can help in the work of extending Europe.
I hope this brief introduction based on the concrete example of how Cedel International has been furthering a particular vision for Europe sets the scene for our other speakers this evening. Our speakers will express their personal vision for Europe as we enter a new Millennium. I think we can anticipate an interesting evening.
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