Former Polish president, political leader and campaigner to give keynote address at this year’s Global Leadership Forum event.
Lech Wałęsa, Poland’s first popularly elected president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate will deliver the keynote address at FIDIC’s Global Leadership Forum event in Athens in April.
Wałęsa is a Polish labour leader and statesman, best known for co-founding and leading Solidarity, the first independent trade union in communist Poland. His leadership played a central role in Poland’s peaceful political transformation, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. From 1990 to 1995, he served as Poland’s first popularly elected president, overseeing the country’s transition to a democratic system and a market-based economy, including profound reforms to its industrial and economic structures.
During his presidency, Wałęsa saw Poland through privatisation and transition to a free-market economy (the Balcerowicz Plan), Poland’s first completely free parliamentary elections in 1991 and a period of redefinition of the country’s foreign relations. He also successfully negotiated the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Poland and won a substantial reduction in foreign debts. Wałęsa supported Poland’s entry into NATO and the European Union, both of which occurred after his presidency, in 1999 and 2004, respectively.
This year’s Global Leadership Forum, organised by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), will focus on the theme of Leading for Future-Ready Infrastructure Delivery. The invitation-only forum is expected to attract engineering, construction and infrastructure industry leaders from around the world and is specifically designed to equip senior executives with the vision, insights and strategies necessary to shape infrastructure that stands the test of time.
Iin his keynote speech to the forum, Wałęsa is expected to share his deeply human perspective on leadership, resilience and the pursuit of freedom. Drawing on his extraordinary journey, he provides audiences with powerful lessons on courage, negotiation and moral conviction in times of uncertainty. His insights resonate not only in politics but also in business, leadership and social innovation.
Commenting on the event in Athens, FIDIC president Alfredo Ingletti said: “We are delighted and honoured that Lech Wałęsa will be addressing our Global Leadership Forum event and I’m sure his insights will inspire us as we discuss the challenges and opportunities facing our businesses and the wider engineering, construction and infrastructure sector. The forum will also enable attendees to connect with their peers from around the world to share knowledge and to discuss solutions to the major issues facing them, their leadership teams and the industry.”
