PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

SOUTH AFRICA TO HOST ICSC WORLD SUMMIT

By Debra Hazel

Change will be a major theme of ICSC’s 2007 Retail Real Estate World Summit, to be held October 3-5 at the Cape Town (South Africa) International Convention Centre. And few are as familiar with change as Frederik Willem de Klerk, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former South African President who engineered the end of apartheid and the transfer of political power to that country’s black majority. De Klerk will deliver the summit’s keynote speech, titled “Managing Diversity: The Challenge of the 21st Century.”

The conference, a joint venture of ICSC and the South African Council of Shopping Centres, is ICSC’s first meeting in Africa and only its second worldwide summit. Speakers and panelists will gather from many countries to discuss issues of vital importance to the industry globally.

“Given the summit’s prime objective to recognize the vital role shopping centers play in enhancing the quality of life, in uplifting communities and in providing hope for a better tomorrow, Africa is the ideal continent to hold this important gathering,” said Scott Harris, ICSC’s staff vice president of global business development. “South Africa, with its world-class shopping centers, and Cape Town, with its renowned beauty and hospitality, [are] the perfect venue.”

Ian Watt, executive director of Old Mutual Property Group, of Cape Town, South Africa, says the summit is not just another conference. “It embraces networking, educating, learning, job creation, improving standards and

benchmarking to deal with such important issues as environment and sustainability of communities,” said Watt. “This is why this is such an important event for South Africa to host. Africa is one of those places where the world has not shown as much focus on providing a way forward. There are over 800 million people in Africa, and the industry could make a major impact on improving the benefits to the communities on the continent. ICSC saw that, by drawing focus on the sophisticated level of retail in South Africa, they could provide a way to improve the lot of others in Africa with a sustainable model.”

Of course, the idea is to examine these issues from a variety of viewpoints. Futurist Wolfgang Grulke, CEO of FutureWorld, a technology think tank in Parklands, South Africa, will kick off the meeting with a discussion titled “Lessons from the Future: The Future Is a Matter of Choice, Not Chance.” Grulke will offer an overview of the cultural changes of the 1960s and ’70s and the products that resulted from them. He will also discuss trends that will affect products and society into the 2020s and beyond.

The role of entertainment in shopping centers will be examined at a panel consisting of Geoffrey John Booth, director of retail development at the Urban Land Institute; Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World, the holding company that oversees the business assets of the government of Dubai, United Arab Emirates; William S. Taubman, COO of Taubman Centers; and Ian Watt.

Balancing the long-term needs of business against the time-pressed demands of the news media will be the focus of a speech by Alastair Campbell, former director of communications and strategy to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Other panels will look at the increased risks and enhanced rewards of building in emerging markets. Africa may be the next frontier, particularly now that competition among investors is raising prices in Eastern Europe, China and India.

The well-developed South Africa as an emerging market will be the topic of Philip Snyman’s presentation. Snyman is managing director of SPA S.A. Group, of Pinetown, South Africa, a company that builds modern shopping centers in rural South African communities.

Among the other speakers on the bill are Ron Altoon, a partner at Altoon + Porter Architects, Los Angeles; Elsa Monteiro, head of institutional relations, environment and communications at Sonae Sierra, Lisbon, Portugal; René Tremblay, president and CEO of Ivanhoe Cambridge, Montréal; and Ji Xiaoan, chairman of Beijing Hualian Group, Beijing.

Conferees will see an exhibition of the latest African projects, products and services, and the opportunities to network will continue through each day. The opening reception will be held at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, and a gala dinner featuring African foods and wines will be held Oct. 4. For more information, prospective attendees are invited to visit www.2007worldsummit.org.