Island attracts leading international figures

PALMA
WHILE Majorca has a well deserved reputation as one of the top holiday destinations in the Mediterranean area, it is also playing an increasingly important role in the world political scene, and over the next few months will play host to figures such as former US vice president Al Gore and Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The first to arrive will be Al Gore, who will be taking part in the tenth National Congress of Family Businesses, which will be held in Palma's Auditorium from October 21 to 23.

The former US vice president is due to address the Congress on October 22, and the title of his lecture is An Inconvenient Truth.
This was the title of his Academy-Award-winning documentary about climate change, specifically global warming.
Directed by Davis Guggenheim, it focuses on Gore and his travels in support of his efforts to educate the public about the severity of the climate crisis.

Although global warming sceptics have criticised the film, calling it “exaggerated and erroneous” it is also being used in school science programmes around the world.

There will be two major debates during the family business congress, one on Asia as a market of enormous potential, and the management of talent.
It has been organised by the Institute of Family Businesses, and in previous years was held in Alicante, Barcelona, Logroño, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanaca, Cordoba, Oviedo, Tenerife and Valencia.

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is expected to attend the closing ceremony, and Mariano Rajoy, leader of the Partido Popular in Spain will also attend.

Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, is expected to attend the first international forum of the Alliance of Civilisations which will be held in Majorca in January.

The Alliance is an initiative which was launched by Spain in 2005, and its High-Level Group held its first meeting in Majorca in November of 2005, to discuss ways of improving relations between Muslim and Western Societies.

Ban was born in 1944 and before becoming UN Secretary General he was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he graduated from college, accepting his first post in New Delhi.

He was elected Secretary-General in October 2006, taking over from Kofi Annan on January 1, 2007. He has passed several major reforms on peacekeeping and UN employment practices. He has taken a particularly strong stance on global warming, pressing the issue repeatedly with US President George W Bush.

The Alliance of Civilisations meeting is expected to bring many world leaders and ministers to the island.