More than 180 corrugated industry leaders from around the world convened at the palatial Fairmont Banff Springs in Alberta, Canada, from June 19-22 for the International Corrugated Case Association (ICCA)/World Containerboard Organisation (WCO) 2023 Global Summit and Fibre Box Association (FBA) Annual Meeting for four days of insightful presentations, stellar networking and the opportunity to experience the mountainous beauty of Banff National Park.
Attendees enjoyed a welcome reception on Monday evening before diving into the first of three general sessions on Tuesday morning, when Dr. Pippa Malmgren engaged and awed her global audience with a presentation that ranged from the space mining of asteroids to the geopolitical issues now rising because of it.
A former U.S. Presidential Advisor, Former Advisor to the UK Cabinet, Best-Selling, Award-Winning Author, Tech Entrepreneur, Dr. Malmgren is an economist who makes sense of the world economy by writing books, founding tech businesses, advising policymakers around the world and through public speaking and teaching, which she did most enthusiastically during her presentation.
Dr. Malmgren summarized the multiple threads of her futuristic presentation involving global leaders and their quests to manufacture products in space with a welcome prediction: “We’re going to need a lot of boxes!”
Attendees also heard from Joaquin Kritz Lara, Chief Economist at Numera Analytics, who provided timely research on the world economy, and Bruno Bovo of Mondelez International, who offered a customer’s economic perspective.
Subsequent sessions featured presentations by:
Eleni Despotou, Director General, FEFCO
Markus Gartner, CEO, Corrugated Packaging, Mondi Group
Alex Manistay, Group Head of Strategy & Innovation, DS Smith
Saverio Mayer, Vice President, FEFCO
Brandon Bennett, President, Conatinerboard & Kraft, Geoegia-Pacific
Dzmitry Bianko, Parthenon Strategy Partner and Chemicals Leader for Canada EY
Jake Hall, The Manufacturing Millennial
Frank Li, Senior Consultant, EY
The Global Summit and FBA Meeting ended on Wednesday eveing with a gala reception and dinner in the Conservatory and Cascades Ballroom at the Fairmont Banff Springs.
