The Evian Group at IMD

The Evian Group at IMD is an international coalition of corporate, government and opinion leaders, committed to fostering an open, inclusive, equitable and sustainable global market economy in a rules-based multilateral framework.

The Evian Group was founded at an international meeting of trade policy makers and policy thinkers convened at the Hotel Royal in Evian-les-Bains (on the French side of Lake Geneva) – hence the name of the Group – in April 1995.

1995 was the year the WTO was founded and corresponded to the early phases of the current era of globalisation. The participants of the meeting recognised that globalisation is not an irreversible force, that nationalism, populism and protectionism require constant vigilance, and that trade is the most fundamental driving force and barometer of globalisation.

In 1997 the founder of The Evian Group, Jean-Pierre Lehmann, joined the Faculty of IMD as professor of International Political Economy. Though The Evian Group remains a separate legal entity, its close integration with IMD resulted in it adopting the name The Evian Group at IMD.

The Evian Group activities are aimed at:

• Confidence building and knowledge creation among its members, stakeholders and constituents;

• Establishing vision and direction by formulating agendas for action;
• Enhancing global business leadership and business statesmanship;
• Influencing policy makers;
• Diffusing Evian Group ideas and intellectual capital as widely as possible;
• Preparing the next generation of industry, government and opinion leaders throughout the world for the challenges and tasks they will need to face.

To achieve these goals, The Evian Group activities are based on three key pillars:

Open dialogue, the exchange of ideas and aspirations, and an agenda for action are facilitated and promoted through The Evian Group plenary meetings and roundtables, regularly and quite frequently convened in Europe, the Arab Region, South Asia and Greater China, and occasionally in Sub-Saharan Africa and both North and South America.

The Evian Group at IMD holds high level meetings, composed of policy makers, international business decision makers and opinion leaders from all continents, with a strong emphasis on the global South. The themes mirror the critical challenges of the international economic community. Participation in The Evian Group meetings is by personal invitation only. Discussions take place according to the Chatham House Rule. Summaries and reports are published and circulated.

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