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A Meeting of Global Leaders at MSB
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 Sitting not 30 feet from current and former business leaders, ambassadors, and heads of state, it was difficult not to be awestruck. Realizing that this event and our own University might play a strategic role in increasing their influence made it even harder not to be inspired.
On November 27th, Georgetown and MSB hosted a discussion with prominent Latin American leaders. Wedged between Thanksgiving and exam week, this event talked about the role of the private sector in increasing competitiveness in the region.
Panelists included three ex-Presidents (José María Aznar of Spain, Vicente Fox of México, Alejandro Toledo of Peru), as well as top businessmen and entrepreneurs (Emilio Botin, Gustavo Cisneros, Marcelo Claure). A keynote speech was given by US Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, focusing on a pending free trade agreement with Colombia.
The panel was organized by the Latin American Board (GULAB), a Georgetown initiative that seeks to cultivate partnerships in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Earlier that morning, GULAB officially launched a new online journal called GCG: Globalization, Competitiveness and Governability.
Published jointly by Georgetow and Universia in Madrid, this journal aims to generate ideas for leaders in politics and business, to increase the competitiveness of the Latin American region. Several of panelists are advisory board members for the journal.
The panel and journal launch were coordinated by MSB’s own Professor Ricardo Ernst, a native of Venezuela. He aimed to help increase awareness of Latin America and “to develop projects with tangible results that coincide with the Georgetown mission”.
The leaders stressed the importance of free trade agreements throughout the Americas, and identified education and strong, stable governments as keys in navigating the markets and making those agreements work.
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 Freedom starts in kindergarten. It is only a statistical error that allowed me to escape poverty,” explained President Toledo, expressing the needs of Peru and the importance of education in economic growth.
Several hundred members of the Georgetown community attended the panel at Gaston Hall. During the question-and-answer period, many focused on events in Venezuela. Some would have liked the discussion to also address the dangers of monopolies’ prevalence in the region, and the overall responsibility of corporations to share risk in building competitive economies.
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The elimination of monopolies and duopolies is fundamental to setting the foundations of fair growth,” posted Peter Fischer (MBA ‘09, a native of Mexico City) in Spanish on the journal’s discussion forum.
Overall, the panel was an inspiring example of how universities like Georgetown can facilitate dialogue that influences change.
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This is about making Georgetown a global university,” said Ernst. “It demonstrates the school’s role as a platform for sharing ideas and exercising freedom of thought.”
Both Ernst and Dean George Daly - who spoke to open the panel - hope this will be the first in a series of big events on campus.
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Events like this are a big part of the reason I chose Georgetown,” said Chris Oleson, MBA ‘09.
The GCG journal website is:
http://gcg.universia.net/
By Cheryl Angelroth, MBA '09
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