Leaders call for ethics to tackle global financial crisis

Alabama, United States
November 17, 2008

Art of Living’s Corporate Culture & Spirituality conference at the European Parliament brought together leaders from diverse fields

BRUSSELS: While the G-20 leaders worked on solutions to the tottering financial crisis, busi- ness leaders shared inspirational ideas at the fifth annual conference on “Ethics in Business Corporate Culture and Spirituality” at the European Union Parliament in Brussels organised by the International Association forHuman Values (IAHV), a sister concern of the Art of Living, both founded by His Holiness Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar .

With the underlying premise that key mechanisms for sustainable growth models are complementary policies and ethics / human values that address common problems and issues globally, this symposium brought together world leaders, market and financial experts, industry stakeholders, spiritual leaders, academicians and politicians, on one platform.

Hon. Prof. Sali Berisha, Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, spoke about how minor differences can be for-gotten in our united search for a greater good for all. He said,“I am deeply convinced that the world needs a new Martin Luther in the area of finances. However, it is ironic that the worst economic crises for over half a century should have been the catalyst that has led to such a positive interaction between the world’s great economies.” Speaking at the conference, Mr . Michael Klein, Vice-President, Financial and Private Sector Development, The World Bank, pointed out that indicators about a financial crisis had been looming and spoke about the need for regulators to be courageous, ethical, perceptive and politically powerful. Prof. Rudy Aernoudt, Former Head of Enterprise Financing,European Commission stated, “This crisis could mean a catharsis which might be a good thing. We have thousands of pages of regulations, and countless publications and yet nobody could understand what happened. If you speak of un-certainty, the only solution is trust. And trust comes from human values.”