Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to speak at the Caribbean Management Expo 2011 which is being held in Barranquilla Thursday and Friday, Caracol Radio reported Thursday.
Blair, who arrived accompanied by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, is attending for approximately one hour to discuss governance and the “third way” – a political ideology combining left-wing social values with flexible markets and enterprise that catapulted the Labour Party under Blair to success in the 1997 UK elections.
Blair’s speech will be followed by a question and answer session and finally a press conference.
The expo of 2,000 entrepreneurs is organized by the Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Leadership and Management and is being held in the port city of Barranquilla for the first time.
President Santos has already delivered his speech in which he said that politics should be “at the service of society, not vice versa.”
He also highlighted the “third way” and the principles of good governance, stating, “Effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and accountability are the four pillars of good governance and they will be the guiding lights of our actions.”
In addition the head of state called on Colombians to elect regional leaders with management skills and who are honest and transparent in the October elections.