Top officials gather in London for public finance summit
Senior civil servants from the finance departments of 12 countries are gathering in London today (Friday) to discuss some of the biggest global issues facing public finance professionals – including the challenges to globalisation, the need to manage risk in our finance sectors, and the tasks of building essential skills and technologies.
The event is to begin on Friday evening with a talk on ‘The retreat from globalisation and its implications for public finances’ by former UK Cabinet Secretary Lord O’Donnell, followed by a debate amongst the delegates. On Saturday, participants will discuss skills in government finances; financial sustainability and performance management; regulating financial markets and managing systemic risk; and the power of disruptive technologies in public finances.
The Global Government Finance Summit (GGFS) is now in its third year, after running in Singapore in 2015 and 2016. Hosted by Global Government Forum, it is this year being held in association with the UK’s HM Treasury and knowledge partners EY and Mastercard; Treasury permanent secretary Tom Scholar is expected to attend. Delegates are coming from five continents, with very senior officials expected from Angola, Botswana, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the UK and the USA.
Designed as an informal, safe space for open discussion between government finance leaders, the GGFS is held under the Chatham House rule – meaning that the delegates’ agreement is required before their comments may be reported. But Global Government Forum will publish a full report on the event, as we have in previous years.
Lord Macpherson, who attended the 2015 event, commented at the time that “there are a lot of international fora, but what’s valuable about this event is that it focuses on public sector fiscal and public service reform and broader issues in an informal setting, where there can be genuine dialogue as opposed to lots of formal speeches.”
For more on the event, click here
About Matt Ross
Matt is Global Government Forum's Contributing Editor, providing direction and support on topics, products and audience interests across GGF’s editorial, events and research operations. He has been a journalist and editor since 1995, beginning in motoring and travel journalism – and combining the two in a 30-month, 30-country 4x4 expedition funded by magazine photo-journalism. Between 2002 and 2008 he was Features Editor of Haymarket news magazine Regeneration & Renewal, covering urban regeneration, economic growth and community development; and from 2008 to 2014 he was the Editor of UK magazine and website Civil Service World, then Editorial Director for Public Sector – both at political publishing house Dods. He has also worked as Director of Communications at think tank the Institute for Government.
