At the Paris headquarters of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the traditional OECD Forum entitled “Bridging Divides” this year took place. The central focus of this Forum is predominantly the question of what divides us and what unites us. As OECD put it, the year of 2016 was characterized by increasing populism, nationalism, and historically low level of trust. Hence the centerpiece of the Forum is the need for policies winning back the confidence of those who feel left behind, fearful of the impact of globalization, increasing migration flows and unprecedented speed of technological development. The two-day forum will be followed by the Ministerial Council Meeting.
The keynote speeches were delivered by Princess Mary of Denmark and Secretary-General of the OECD, Mr. Angel Gurria, which were followed by eight concurrent panels and workshops. At the central panel titled “Bridging Divides” the attendees were presented viewpoints of Secretary-General of the International Trade Union Confederation, Ms. Sharan Burrow, the CEO of Sodexo, Mr. Michel Landel, Head of Global Policy and Public Affairs at Airbnb, Mr. Chris Lehane, and Secretary-General of Amnesty International, Mr. Salil Shetty.
The Forum hosted almost 80 debates, presentations and other events which will be attended by over thousand prominent guests and decision-makers from all over the world. 
At the invitation of the organizers, this year’s Forum was also attended by the President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' and Investors' Association (VZMD), Mr. Kristjan Verbič, who arrived in Paris as part of the 49th tour of the international business-investor programs of VZMD - Invest to Slovenia (investo.si) and International Investors` Network (invest-to.net). OECD Secretary-General Mr. Gurria confirmed that he will be again attending this year’s Strategic Forum Bled, where he had met with Mr. Verbič back in 2012 (VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42laEerEPtA), whereas this year’s Bled Forum is supposed to be attended by the First Lady of the USA, Mrs. Melania Trump.
Moreover, the VZMD President has been attending the forums every year since 2011. Thus he talked with the then Secretary of State of the USA, Mrs. Hillary R. Clinton, and actively participated in various public discussions - in 2014 he addressed a question to the then Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mrs. Alenka Bratušek and Secretary-General Mr. Gurria regarding the speech of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia related to regaining trust in the Slovenian financial and banking system,and a year later he had a question for the President of the Supervisory Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), Ms. Danièle Nouy (VIDEO:http://webcastcdn.viewontv.com/client/oecd/forum2015/02062015_blue.html), pointing out the importance of trust, primarily individual investors, and kindly asked for clarification and comments on extremely diverse criteria for stress tests and ratings of banks.
This tour of investo.si and investo.international will continue into the annual conference of the European Business Angel Network (EBAN) in the Spanish city of Malaga and the General Meeting of the Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea International Fund (BSCSIF) in Istanbul, Turkey.
Other Related International Activities:
VIDEO REPORT - Traditional meeting of the economy, culture and politics on centenary of the Russian chapel and during the visit of the President of the Russian Federation
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT from Wroclaw - 4 days of exceptional opportunities in »Slovenian Center«, juncture for business, investment and promotional interests
SLOVENIAN CENTER IN WROCLAW - large attendance and numerous opportunities for Slovenia's promotion, as well as promising business collaborations, also within the VZMD's business-investor programs and the premiere of its PRESENTATIONAL VIDEO
VIDEO INVITATION – Opportunity for company presentations - »SLOVENIAN BUSINESS CENTER« at the European handball championship
VIDEO REPORT from 10th Bled Strategic Forum - the largest foreign affairs event in Slovenia
VIDEO REPORT on the 6th this year's tour of the VZMD's international business-investor programs and its focal part - business angels delegation in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT from Istanbul - the European Business Angels Investment Forum 2014
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT about the week of the MOSCOW-VIENNA-CAPETOWN conferences involving the following: active participation of the international business-investment VZMD programmes, signing a memorandum with the Russian Federation of Investors, and protection of rights of the Slovene and European shareholders at the Viennese conference »The Financial Repression of Savers and Investors« (Moscow, Vienna, Cape Town, October 2013)
MOSCOW – At the Slovenian Embassy about a joint investors’ conference in the fall – an arrangement between the Russian Federation of Investors, VZMD and the Slovenian Embassy (Moscow, June 2013)
KAZAKHSTAN – a successful visit of the Slovenian business delegation in Kazakhstan – strong interest displayed in the international investors’ programs of the PanSlovenian Shareholders’ Association (VZMD): investo.si and investo.international (Astana, Almaty, June 2013)
WORLD BANK – President of VZMD and EuroFinUse Board Member speaker of the first panel at the international conference about audit reform and the importance of audit committees (Bucharest, June 2013)
VIDEO REPORT – Variegated happening at the 19th financial fair KAPITAL 2013 at Cankar Hall, along two-day presentation of the international investors’ programs and the lecture of VZMD President (Ljubljana, April 2013)
INDIA – visit of Slovenian government and business delegation – on the basis of Memorandum between ICPE and VZMD international investors' programs investo.si and investo.international also present (New Delhi, February 2013)
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT of “International Conference on Benefits and Challenges of Public Private Partnerships for improving Energy Efficiency” – key statements of prominent participants (Ljubljana, October, 2012)
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT from Slovenian - Azerbaijani Business Forum in Baku (Baku, January, 2013)
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO REPORT - Investors' week and the view of business potentials and investment opportunities during the visit of distinguished international guests at the Slovenian coast (Postojna, Koper, Piran, September, 2012)
VIDEO REPORT "Ljubljana declaration" – historic decision on unification of 50 organizations of shareholders and investors under one association and VZMD award »Polet« for »Model corporate governance in multinational corporation« to Gorenje company (Ljubljana, September 21, 2012)
Gala reception and dinner before International Conference on financial education and investors` exposition »investo Expo« (Ljubljana, September 19, 2012)
VIDEO REPORT - International Conference at the Brussels Stock Exchange Stimulated Investors' Representatives and Institutions to Participate at the Investors' Week 2012 in September in Slovenia(Brussels, March 2012)
"Slovenian Day at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)" Exceptional Interest of Funds, Investors, and the Financial Media for Slovenian Companies and Its Investment Environment - The Introduction of investo.si - Invest to Slovenia's Newly Founded Affiliate, investo.me - Invest to Montenegro (Warsaw, October 2011)
www.vzmd.si – More on the VZMD – PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association
www.vzmd.tv and www.investo.tv – Over 300 videos from VZMD.TV and investo.tv
www.investo.si – More on the investo.si – Invest to Slovenia Program
www.invest-to.net – More on the network of 65 national organizations of shareholders and investors – investo.international
