The names of the international industry and business leaders, who will sit on the advisory board of the new Global Leadership Forum to bring together industry leaders from across the globe to focus on the key issues facing society and the wider infrastructure sector, have been announced by FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers.

FIDIC has selected the members of its advisory board for the Global Leadership Forum based on their key positions, knowledge and expertise of the engineering, investment, construction and wider infrastructure sectors. The board, which represents stakeholders across the infrastructure sphere and includes a number of UK industry representatives, will help to guide the direction, activities and outputs of the FIDIC Global Leadership Forum. It will operate under the guidance of the FIDIC president, vice president(s)/president elect and the CEO and will meet at least three times a year, with one in-person event arranged during the FIDIC Annual Global Infrastructure Conference in Geneva in September.

The advisory board, which met for the first time online on 27 January 2022, will establish a number of working think-tank/task groups with a mandate to deliberate on key topics or issues and produce tangible thought leadership papers to enhance FIDIC’s global advocacy and public engagement agenda. This will enable the Global Leadership Forum, which is supported by more than 100 CEOs from around the world, to play a key role in helping FIDIC address key global challenges and create a united, influential, international voice for the infrastructure sector.

"It is a reflection of the growing interest in FIDIC's advocacy programme that we have been able to attract such a range of influential international experts and leaders to sit on the Global Leadership Forum Advisory Board."
Tony Barry, FIDIC president 

Commenting on the announcement of the names of the Global Leadership Forum Advisory Board, FIDIC chief executive Dr Nelson Ogunshakin said: “When we announced the formation of the Global Leadership Forum in September last year, as part of our corporate plans for 2020-2024, we did so with the aim of bringing key influencers and decision-makers together from the construction and infrastructure sectors to help address the critical issues we face as a society and an industry and to develop workable solutions to solve them. The carefully selected members of this new advisory board are diverse and are all influential leaders in their fields. I am confident that they will make a positive and significant impact on the work of the FIDIC Global Leadership Forum. I look forward to working with them.”

FIDIC president Tony Barry said: “I am delighted that FIDIC has been able to attract such a range of high-profile and influential international industry and business leaders to sit on the advisory board of the Global Leadership Forum. It is a reflection of the growing interest in FIDIC’s advocacy programme that we have been able to attract a range of influential international experts and leaders to sit on the forum’s advisory board. The forum will provide a powerful global network for leaders to discuss the key issues and I am confident that through their discussions, deliberations and actions they will be able to build a solid coalition of support and buy-in for what needs to be done to address the key global challenges we face and, crucially, how we collaborate to solve them.”

Names and details of the members of the Global Leadership Forum Advisory Board are listed below.

FIDIC Global Leadership Forum Advisory Board

• José M Aparicio, Managing Director and President, Siemens Energy (Mexico).
• Anthony Bouchard, President and Chief Operating Officer, CDM Smith (USA).
• William Cox, Group CEO, Aurecon (Australia).
• Robin Greenleaf, CEO, Architectural Engineers (USA).
• Mike Haigh, Group Executive Chair, Mott MacDonald (UK).
• Jim Johnson, Director, UK, India, Middle East & Africa Board, Arup (UK).
• Mark Naysmith, Chief Executive Officer for WSP in the UK & MEIA Region, WSP (UK).
• Peter Oosterveer, Group CEO, Arcadis NV (Netherlands).
• Malani Padayachee-Saman, CEO, MPAMOT (South Africa).
• Nandita Parshad, Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UK).
• Lara Poloni, President, AECOM Group (USA).
• Fang Qiuchen, Chairman, China International Contractors Association (China).
• Susan Reisbord, CEO, Cardno (USA).
• Fidel Saenz de Ormijana, Chief Technical Officer, Ferrovial Construction (Spain).
• Jens-Peter Saul, Group CEO, Ramboll (Denmark).
• Fuat Savas, Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance and Advisory Team, JP Morgan (USA).

The Global Leadership Forum Advisory Board members will help to provide the strategic direction and will guide activities and outputs of the Global Leadership Forum which is expected to include expert panels and roundtables, industry and sector surveys and reports, networking events, including face-to-face discussions with politicians, civic society and other opinion formers on a range of regular events to promote its work. FIDIC’s recently launched Infrastructure Global online platform will play a key role in communicating the forum’s work and in profiling its members, their companies and the industry as a whole.