The Italian President of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce, spoke today at the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux, above Montreux. She spoke on ‘Economy of Communion: an instrument at the service of humanity on the way towards a united world’ at the conference ‘Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy: Exploring ways to help create a just and equitable global economy’.

R Gopalakrishnan, the Executive Director, Tata Sons and a Member of the Group Executive Board, Tata Group, spoke today on ‘Beyond consumer capitalism – towards sustainability and free trade’ at the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux.

The conference ‘Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy: Exploring ways to help create a just and equitable global economy’ opened last night in the Initiatives of Change conference centre in Caux. This last of six summer conferences in the centre has attracted 160 participants. For six days, business professionals, social entrepreneurs, representatives of NGOs and people from the food industry, from many countries will meet to develop actions directed at creating a fairer economy.

Brendan Barber, General Secretary of Britain’s Trades Union Congress, criticised the short-term, “quick buck” mentality of hedge fund managers and called for fundamental change in the core values of banking with an emphasis on “public interest”.

Each year, an emminent person who has given a lead in values-based business initiatives is invited to deliver the Caux Lecture during the TIGE conference. In 2010 Mr R Gopalakrishnan executive director of Tata Sons Limited, chairman of Rallis India and of Advinus Therapeutics, and vice chairman of Tata Chemicals, will deliver the lecture. He is a director on the boards of several Tata companies, among them Tata Motors, Tata Power and Tata Teleservices.

The Caux Initiatives for Business (CIB) conference jointly co-hosted by Indian and Japanese Initiatives of Change associates, was launched in Panchgani, Maharashtra, India, between 20-24 November 2009. Its aim was to attempt to find answers to the problems that face the global economy. The theme of the Conference “From Financial Crisis To a New Economic Order – The Need to Reintroduce Trust and Integrity as Common Business Practices" brought together 140 delegates from 13 countries.

Dr Jean-Pierre Méan, Vice-President of Transparency International, Switzerland and member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation Caux Initiatives of Change, who led a Work Stream on ‘Reshaping business around core values’, at the Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy conference in Caux, July 2009, releases a new publication called On Corruption and Bribery: Fighting to Restore Trust. This new 44-page publication of the European Bahá’í Business Forum (EBBF) explores the current extent of corruption and bribery, and the efforts by governments and the business community to deal with it.

Caux Initiatives of Business is organising its Annual Conference for 2009 in Panchgani, Maharashtra, India, between the 20-24 November 2009, to attempt to find answers to the problems that face us. The theme of the Conference will be: “From Financial Crisis To a New Economic Order – The Need to Reintroduce Trust and Integrity as Common Business Practices.”

The conference "Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy" with 160 participants from 38 countries in the conference centre of Initiatives of Change in Caux came to an end today.

A senior executive of a leading Indian corporation today told how his company is ‘going green’ to meet environmental and climate change challenges. Rajeev Dubey, member of the Group Management Board of the Mahindra & Mahindra automotive and tractor company, also told how the group is committed to the education of disadvantaged children, particularly girls, as part of its social commitment.