David Miliband, British shadow foreign secretary and former secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, and James Baker, former US secretary of state and secretary of the treasury, will take part in the Global Financial Markets Forum (GFMF) being held in Abu Dhabi later this month.

 

Miliband will give the keynote speech on the opening day of the forum.

 

GFMF is the annual conference organized by the Financial Markets Division of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the Number One bank in the UAE.

 

The two-day conference, which kick starts on February 27, will also feature several discussion panels including one composed of bankers from across Mena nations, which would discuss “Emerging Opportunities and Challenges in Mena.”

 

Influential policy-makers, acclaimed authors and academics, prominent investors and leading bankers will address, offer vital insight and analysis on the critical issues affecting global economy, said Sameh Abdulla Al Qubaisi, the general manager of Institutional and Corporate Coverage Group at NBAD’s Financial Markets Division. 

 

“NBAD’s Global Financial Markets Forum continues to be the platform that brings to Abu Dhabi's influential power brokers and thinkers from the Gulf and across the globe.”

 

The Forum will begin by the keynote address by Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of UAE. 

 

Michael H. Tomalin, the group chief executive of NBAD will offer the welcome address. Tomalin will also participate in the panel “A view from the top - Banking, The World, and Beyond.”

 

The other speakers at this year’s GFMF include David McWilliams, economist, broadcaster and author; Niall Ferguson, author of "The Ascent of Money," and many other books and a professor at Harvard and Oxford Universities; and Lawrence McDonald, economic consultant and political risk advisor.

 

Several CEOs and notable financial professionals and thinkers will be on discussions this year, including Eric Chaney, economist and strategist at AXA Investment Managers; Marc Faber, strategist and investment and trading forecaster; Lawrence McDonald, economic consultant and political risk advisor; Severin Cabannes, deputy CEO of Societe Generale Group; Jean Lemierre, advisor to the chairman of BNP Paribas; and Markus Diethelm, group general counsel and member of the executive board UBS. – TradeArabia News Service