New forum brings together leaders including the EBRD, JP Morgan, and Siemens Energy to help set a path for greater global impact across all infrastructure.
The international infrastructure industry has founded the Global Leadership Forum, bringing together some of the most senior figures in every part of global infrastructure.
The brainchild of FIDIC – the international federation of consulting engineers – this new forum spans design, finance, law and all levels of infrastructure delivery to address global challenges such as climate change and poverty, by sharing expertise and insights and shaping global decision-making.
FIDIC president Tony Barry explained: “The forum will provide a powerful global network for leaders to discuss the key issues and I am confident that through their discussions, deliberations and actions that they will be able to build a solid coalition of support and buy-in for what needs to be done to address the key global challenges we face and crucially, how we collaborate to solve them.”
This week saw the first meeting of the newly formed advisory board, bringing together sector leaders to share expertise and help set the direction of the new forum – examining areas for research ranging from climate metrics to SDGs.
Dr Nelson Ogunshakin OBE, chief executive of FIDIC, said: “When we announced the formation of the Global Leadership Forum in September last year, as part of our corporate plans for 2020-2024, we did so with the aim of bringing key influencers and decision-makers together from the construction and infrastructure sectors to help address the critical issues we face as a society and an industry and to develop workable solutions to solve them.”
The members were selected on the basis of their key positions, knowledge and expertise of the engineering, investment, construction and wider infrastructure sectors. The advisory board will now establish a number of working think-tanks with a mandate to bring global industry leaders together to deliberate on key global issues and produce tangible insights to enhance the sector’s advocacy and public engagement.
This will enable the Global Leadership Forum, which is supported by more than 100 CEOs from around the world, to play a key role in helping to address global challenges and create a united, influential, international voice for the infrastructure sector.
The membership of the new Global Leadership Forum advisory board has been announced as:
- José M Aparicio, Managing Director and President, Siemens Energy (Mexico).
- Anthony Bouchard, President and Chief Operating Officer, CDM Smith (USA).
- William Cox, Group CEO, Aurecon (Australia).
- Robin Greenleaf, CEO, Architectural Engineers (USA).
- Mike Haigh, Group Executive Chair, Mott MacDonald (UK).
- Jim Johnson, Director, UK, India, Middle East & Africa Board, Arup (UK).
- Mark Naysmith, Chief Executive Officer for WSP in the UK & MEIA Region, WSP (UK).
- Peter Oosterveer, Group CEO, Arcadis NV (Netherlands).
- Malani Padayachee-Saman, CEO, MPAMOT (South Africa).
- Nandita Parshad, Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UK).
- Lara Poloni, President, AECOM Group (USA).
- Fang Qiuchen, Chairman, China International Contractors Association (China).
- Susan Reisbord, CEO, Cardno (USA).
- Fidel Saenz de Ormijana, Chief Technical Officer, Ferrovial Construction (Spain).
- Jens-Peter Saul, Group CEO, Ramboll (Denmark).
- Fuat Savas, Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance and Advisory Team, JP Morgan (USA).
Tony Barry welcomed the inaugural membership, adding: “I am delighted that FIDIC has been able to attract such a range of high-profile and influential international industry and business leaders to sit on the advisory board of the Global Leadership Forum. It is a reflection of the growing interest in FIDIC’s advocacy that we have been able to attract a range of international experts and leaders to sit on the forum’s advisory board.”
