Billion-dollar men get down to business

By Carol du Chateau

When the politicians hunker down in the Auckland Museum, talking international diplomacy and transparency, another, smaller, conference of suited middle-aged men - and the odd woman - will be sitting round boardroom-style tables, taking off the gloves and getting down to Apec business.

Headquartered in the new Heritage Hotel, which has blossomed like a butterfly out of the chrysalis of the old Farmers building, the CEO Summit is tipped to be the driving force of this year's Apec event.

The theory: because business is the engine room of any economy (in Apec-ese we talk economies, not countries) it follows that international business leaders should have a major impact on Apec discussion.

For Apec this is big news. Traditionally the business side of the forum is cumbersome and hobbled by hangers-on - usually from the host country.

Here, in the City of Sails, we're keeping numbers down to a lean 250 invited high-ranking international business leaders, holding the local contingent to 50 and then, for the first time in Apec history, putting businesspeople and politicians together.

The result: easy access to the most influential politicians the Pacific Rim can produce. Clear-sighted policy.

It is certainly time for a fuel injection. After President Clinton's lamb debacle, and still smarting from the Asian Crisis, some of the organisation's big names are desperate for change.

Here's Helmut Sohmen, chairman of the Hong Kong-based World Wide Shipping Group, talking in June: "Let's admit it, (Apec) has to look seriously at itself and its relevance for business."

Titled "Globalisation in the 21st Century", the business summit is geared to drive through ideas that will prevent another Asian crisis and suggest an economic blueprint for the region.

The chairman of organisers Apec Summit Inc, John Maasland, says: "There are major issues up for discussion - e-commerce, international food systems, biotechnology - and the format means that after their meetings businesspeople will have the opportunity to meet with politicians over an informal breakfast and discuss their ideas."

When Maasland talks about politicians, he means heavy hitters, starting with Bill Clinton, who will begin Sunday morning with a speech on "Bright People - Smart Technologies". And to finish? A second keynote address entitled "Apec - Towards a Common Goal of Shared Prosperity" from the once-was-wealthiest man in the world, the Sultan of Brunei.

Businesspeople expected to check in at the Heritage have enough international clout to be taken very seriously by Clinton and co - even if most of us have never heard of them.

While the speaking lineup seems short on Japanese (the region's second-biggest economy) it is stacked with Americans, headed by Jack Smith, chief executive of General Motors, the biggest manufacturing company in the world. Gary Tooker, vice-chairman of IT giant Motorola will be there, as will Ernest Micek, chairman of Cargill Inc, the biggest privately-owned company in the US and the biggest food distributor in the world, with tentacles into "life sciences" giant Monsanto.

Others attending include Nelson Chang, president of Taiwan's Chia Hsin Cement Inc and S.R. Cho, chairman of Korea's Hyosung Group. Others taking part include Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and Anatoly Chubais, former deputy Prime Minister of Russia.

"These people are leaders," says Maasland. "Their business is future-driven strategy. The message they will take to Apec politicians will be clear: this is where business wants you to go."

Jack Smith will open the American dialogue when he launches into "Global Companies and Nation States - Tensions or Common Interests?" on Saturday September 11. A softly-spoken Boston boy known in US business circles as "the quiet man", Smith (1998 pay package: $US8.72 million) is a meticulous, unflashy chap. Listen to Fortune magazine when they put him on their "CEOs who don't ..." (have charisma) list back in 1996: "As charismatic as his name. He eschews TV cameras and the press. A pragmatic consensus builder, he accumulates power by giving it away. He has made GM shine even though he doesn't."

Smith is certainly not a slash and burn man. While analysts suggest GM should drop 55,000 of its 350,000 workers to stay competitive, Smith's view is more humane: better to wait until age slims the workforce than challenge the United Auto Workers head on.

"What would we have gained to have a disgruntled work force that wouldn't have their heart and soul into bringing (GM plants) back up," asks Smith.

His other solution to GM's problems is - surprise, surprise - globalisation. The company's smart new factories in Poland, China and Brazil, plus its refurbished sites in Germany and England, are seen as the new hope for an outfit that's become moribund on its home turf.

All of which makes Smith ideally suited to argue international trade.

Possibly the most agenda-packed strand to the business summit will be the discussion on biotechnology led by Ernest Micek, 63, chairman of Cargill Inc. One of the world's biggest food producers ($US51.4 billion in sales, 80,600 employees) and joint venture partner with Monsanto in its work on genetic modification, Cargill pushes the boundaries.

The Minnesota-based company dominates areas as diverse as commodities trading (grain, coffee, petroleum), food processing, seed feed and fertiliser production, and steel making.

Micek, who is due to retire in 2000, is an enthusiastic advocate of genetically "enhanced" grain and animal feed products. Big on the international conference circuit, Micek regularly delivers his globalisation and GM messages at forums like the Pacific Basin Economic Council.

He will bring the same sentiments to Apec, heading a round table discussion on "The Apec food system - a comprehensive approach to reform".

Almost certainly, Micek will use the opportunity to air his controversial ideas for an "open food system". The proposition: developed countries, aided by sophisticated agri-tech methods, should grow commodity crops like wheat and soybeans, leaving labour-intensive cropping (lettuce, fruit, vegetables) to less developed, and cheap labour, countries such as China.

Although Micek, whose company was involved in the creation of "Roundup Ready" soybeans, genetically engineered to tolerate herbicide sprays, believes the next generation of GM foods will take five to seven years to develop, he also believes genetic modification of commodity crops is already unstoppable.

The test now, he says, is to achieve strict segregation from seeding through to the final product, which is "a huge management and logistical challenge."

From Micek's point of view, GM foods are a breakthrough - part of the solution to feeding the world's growing population without being forced to farm on environmentally fragile land.

Globalisation, he argues, will provide the other half of the solution by allowing a more efficient spread of agricultural trade, so creating higher quality produce at a lower cost to consumers. All this and with less damage to the environment!

Slightly less alarming and even wealthier is the 29th Sultan of Brunei.

In recent years, the Sultan and his even more infamous little brother, Prince Jefri (the one with the yacht named Tits) have managed to make serious inroads into the family billions.

Nevertheless, the Sultan - and Brunei itself - is seriously important to the Apec partnership, because of the tiny nation's oil resources.

They also love to shop. Said an aide: "as long as there is enough BSG - that is begging, snivelling and grovelling - the Sultan will buy anything".

Which is perhaps why he owns Waimanu, his lavishly refurbished Herne Bay mansion.

Although he bought the house (and one next door which was promptly removed) for $13.5 million, in the past he has chosen to stay at the Stamford Plaza instead.

And unless he fancies snuggling up to the other business leaders who are booked into the Heritage, it is most unlikely that he'll pass up the chance to stay at the Stamford like Bill Clinton this time.