German President Opens the Second Meeting of Economics Laureates in Lindau.

LINDAU, Germany -- German President Horst Koehler opened the 2nd Lindau Meeting of the Winners of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences together with Countess Sonja Bernadotte on Thursday. 291 young economists from 40 countries will meet the world's top researchers in economics at Lake Constance until Saturday (19 August). The meeting participants, including 81 women, were selected from 4,500 applicants in a multistage international nomination process. The budding economists will meet eight Laureates of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize, the most prestigious distinction in the economic sciences worldwide. The prize has been awarded since 1969, together with the Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences. The program in Lindau, at the University of St. Gallen and on the Isle of Mainau includes lectures on global issues in finance and economic policy, small workshops and personal encounters between the most talented next-generation researchers and prodigies in their respective fields.

German President Koehler, as the former President of the International Monetary Fund himself a distinguished expert in economics, advised economists the world over not to lose sight of peoples economic realities. "I believe that, above all, we need an open-minded, undogmatic approach to successfully meet the great global challenges like poverty, climate change, social imbalance and migration". National economies must be measured by their contribution to the solution of these problems, emphasised the German President. "Economic decisions have a great influence on people's quality of life - worldwide." This is an enormous responsability for managers, entrepreneurs and economists.

The President of the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, Countess Sonja Bernadotte, emphasized the role of the Lindau Meetings as a unique opportunity for young researchers in economics to exchange experiences across continents and generations and to obtain new impetus for their own work. "Globalization is advancing. The exchange between cultures and the transfer between the various disciplines is becoming ever more important." She then went on to address the young economists directly: "I am calling on you to use this opportunity. The Laureates are looking for a dialogue with you. They are here because of you."

Countess Sonja Bernadotte took the occasion to announce the appointment of SAP AG Chairman of the Board Prof. Henning Kagermann and General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements, Dr. Malcom Knight, to the Honorary Senate of the Foundation Lindau Nobel Prizewinners Meetings following their meritorious contributions to the Meetings. The foundation honored the commitment of the two managers in advancing the Lindau Dialogues to a global platform of exchange between today's science prodigies and the tomorrow's elite.

The topics of the Lindau Meeting in Economic Sciences range from the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to the effects of Chinese economic strategies on the global financial system. The goal of this unique meeting is the exchange of knowledge while stimulating a dialog between cultures. The idea is that the young researchers from around the world will be motivated in their work by the fascinating luminaries and contacts to colleagues from other countries. Six lectures by the Laureates will be broadcast via the internet at www.lindau-nobel.de as of Thursday afternoon, allowing researchers, students and all those interested in economics to tune in from anywhere in the world.