Horasis to hold virtual summit of world leaders amid COVID-19 pandemic

Horasis, a global think tank, will hold its all-virtual Horasis Extraordinary Meeting on October 1, 2020.

The meeting will host over 800 world leaders from 70 different countries including heads of state, ministers, captains of business and social leaders. They will unite to help “devise solutions to overcome the profound economic, political and social disruptions caused by COVID-19,” according to a statement from the meeting’s organizers.

“The world will not go back to a ‘new normal’ using a simplistic resetting of legacy systems,” said Frank-Jürgen Richter, Chairman of Horasis. “Extraordinary times demand extraordinary transformation. All public, private and social sector leaders must collaborate to design strategies to lead society through these trying times.”

Some of the pressing issues to be covered during the one-day summit include revitalizing economic growth, COVID-19 vaccination availability, climate change commitments, overcoming discrimination and inequality, nurturing inclusive leadership, reaching sustainable development goals, mental health crises, and much more.

“The world will not go back to a ‘new normal’ using a simplistic resetting of legacy systems,” Frank-Jürgen Richter, Chairman of Horasis.

Government leaders attending the meeting will include:

Nana Akufo-Addo: President of Ghana, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: President of Kazakhstan, Hage G. Geingob: President of Namibia, Armen Sarkissian: President of Armenia, Iliana Iotova: Vice President of Bulgaria, Rania A. Al-Mashat: Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt, Nina Angelovska: Minister of Finance, North Macedonia, Jenny Gilruth: Minister for Europe and International Development, Government of Scotland, United Kingdom, Diego Mesa: Minister of Mines and Energy, Colombia, V.K. Singh: Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, India, Vera Daves de Sousa: Minister of Finance, Angola, and Lindiwe Zulu: Minister of Social Development, South Africa.

“Extraordinary times demand extraordinary transformation. All public, private and social sector leaders must collaborate to design strategies to lead society through these trying times,” Horasis Chairman Frank-Jürgen Richter.

The delegates will also include leaders of the world’s top corporations, including:

Hank McKinnell: Chairman, Moody’s, USA, Ibukun Awosika: Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, Erik Fyrwald: Chief Executive Officer, Syngenta, Switzerland, Roshni Nadar Malhotra: Chairperson, HCL Corporation Ltd., India, Martin Richenhagen: Chairman, President and CEO, AGCO, USA, and Hans Vestberg: Chief Executive Officer, Verizon Communications, USA.

The meeting will take place against the backdrop of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, an organization of nation states formed after World War II to help solve global disputes. Amid the continued fracturing of international organizations, Horasis delegates will debate ways in which the world can move forward using a more egalitarian form of globalism, according to its organizers.

Thanks to its all-digital format which is facilitated by events company Run The World, the summit will be available to the public for the first time.  Those interested in attending can register here.

Correction: A previous version of this story said that Hikmet Ersek: Chief Executive Officer, Western Union, USA would be attending the 2020 Horasis Extraordinary Meeting as a delegate. Ersek will not be participating, according to a spokesperson.