The tenth annual Cayman Business Outlook, the pre-eminent annual business conference for Cayman residents, will be held on January 24^th, 2013. Fidelity Bank announces that for this year’s conference, the venue will once again be The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.

For nine years this highly anticipated conference has educated, informed, stimulated and provoked the local community. Attendees include entrepreneurs, business leaders, academics and a broad section of the local community who have been interested in issues that affect Cayman and the rest of the world.

At a press conference to launch the CBO, Fidelity Group Chairman Mr Anwer J. Sunderji spoke about the wide-ranging discussion that will be had at the CBO on relevant topics of the day.

“This conference has a very special niche,” he explained. “We are not appealing to a narrow cross section of hedge fund managers, lawyers, accountants; we are appealing to a broad cross section of the Caymanian public. The idea is to have this conference address global topics such as geopolitics, economics and technology and to understand how those forces are going to impact our lives and our businesses.”

Previous speakers have included prominent global commentators, such as author and New York University’s Stern School of Business professor Nuriel Roubini (“Dr Doom”) who predicted the economic meltdown of 2008, Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group and Simon Johnson, a former Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund.  In addition, in 2009 the CBO highlighted local issues by sponsoring the first ever political debate between the then incumbent Leader of Government Business, Mr Kurt Tibbets and the then Leader of the Opposition, Mr W McKeeva Bush.

This year the conference promises to continue to educate and enlighten with the theme: “From Evolution to Revolution: The dramatic change in Global Politics, Economy and Technology”.

At this year’s tenth anniversary the programme’s first speaker is the conference keynote, William Cohen, who served as the 20^th US Secretary of Defense and was a member of the US House of Representatives and Senate.

Mr Sunderji gave some background to this session: “One of the big issues that we face is that the United States has historically provided an umbrella of stability for the rest of the world, allowing it to prosper – it has been a global policeman, a global bank and a global bastion of democracy and the question is: can it afford to continue to do so?  With a weak US economy and a rising China, what does the future hold?”

Mr Sunderji anticipated that Mr Cohen would provide the conference attendees with a perspective as to how America would position itself in light of its inability to fund the historical role it has played.

The conference’s second speaker is author Bill Emmott who is the former editor-in-chief of the Financial Times. Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy and recipient of a US$2 million Google prize and a US$1.5 million gift from Bill Gates will be giving this year’s technology presentation. He will share how his company has transformed conventional teaching methodologies through the use of technology.

Ensuring that the local perspective is represented as in previous years, conference organisers are working hard to put together a dynamic panel of local speakers who will be discussing the issues of the day through a question and answer session derived from questions sent in by the public. It is anticipated that in this, an election year, the local panel will certainly provoke stimulating discussion. Names of speakers on this panel will be announced shortly. As with previous years, the Premier is expected to address the audience at the start of the conference and this year the organisers have invited the Cayman Island’s new Premier, Mrs. Juliana O’Conner-Connolly to speak on the “State of the Nation”. The Governor Mr Duncan Taylor or Deputy Governor Mr Franz Manderson will also give an opening address at this year’s event.

Fidelity Bank is the primary sponsor and organiser of the conference and is joined by many outstanding Cayman companies as sponsors. CBO sponsors allow this not-for-profit conference to keep entrance fees to an affordable CI$325 per person, which includes continental breakfast, lunch and a cocktail party at the conclusion of the event.

The CBO hosts 350 attendees and is sold out each year. Early registration is advised. Attendees can register by emailing [email protected] or contacting Gwenda McLean at Fidelity Bank at 345.949.7822 ext. 2153.

Sponsors:

Fidelity, in partnership with:

Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust

Campbells

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Consolidated Water Company

DART

Five Continents Financial

RoyalStar Assurance

Admiral Administration

Evolving Island

Guardian General Insurance

LIME