Former US President Bill Clinton shares his Perspective on Latest Global Developments with NBK’s VIP Clients
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the leading bank in Kuwait and the highest rated bank in the Middle East, is preparing to host former U.S President Bill Clinton as the guest of honor and keynote speaker at the Bank's annual international symposium to be held in mid November 2008. The event will provide a rare opportunity for NBK's VIP clients and senior public and academic figures to hear President Clinton's views on and insights into the latest global economic and political developments.
Widely described as one of the 21st century's most brilliant men of intelligence and political acumen, President Clinton, who served as the forty-second President of the United States for two terms from 1993 to 2001, still commands great respect and popularity both on the domestic and foreign fronts.
About President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992, and again in 1996, the first Democratic president to be awarded a second term in six decades. Under his leadership, the United States enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. His administration resulted in moving the nation from record deficits to record surpluses; the creation of over 22 million jobs; low levels of unemployment, poverty and crime; and the highest homeownership and college enrollment rates in history.
After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.
Upon moving his offices to Harlem, New York, in 2002, he launched the Foundation’s first program to help local small business owners succeed. Since then, this initiative has evolved into the Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative, which is helping individuals and families succeed and small businesses grow. Also in 2002, at the World AIDS Conference in Barcelona, President Clinton started the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) to assist developing countries in implementing large-scale, integrated, care, treatment and prevention programs that will turn the tide on the epidemic. Today, 1.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS are accessing lifesaving treatment because of CHAI.
After undergoing heart surgery in 2004, President Clinton joined forces with the American Heart Association to combat the rise in childhood obesity in 2005. Later that year, he hosted the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which brings together world leaders from government, business, and nonprofit sectors to devise solutions to pressing problems.
In 2006, he launched the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) with the mission of applying the Foundation's business-oriented approach to the fight against climate change in practical, measurable and significant ways. In addition, the Foundation partnered with the Hunter Foundation to launch the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative to catalyze sustainable social and economic growth and development in Africa. Today, CHDI works specifically in Rwanda and Malawi.
Building on this successful approach, President Clinton and Frank Giustra established the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative in 2007 as an innovative partnership between the Clinton Foundation, the private sector, governments, local communities, and other NGOs to increase the scope, scale, impact, and sustainability of social and economic development efforts in countries where natural resource industries are an important part of the economy. Ultimately CGSGI is an effort to transform the way businesses do business in the developing world.
In addition his Foundation work, President Clinton has joined with former President George H.W. Bush three times – after the 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hurricane Ike in 2008 – to help raise money for recovery efforts. He also served as the U.N. Envoy for Tsunami Recovery to help people “build back better”.
President Clinton was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. He and his wife Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have one daughter, Chelsea, and live in Chappaqua, New York.
