BIR News

All Flights Lead to Berlin

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has reached record pre-registration for its 2004 BIR Spring Convention May 24-26 in Berlin at the Maritim proArte hotel. As of early April, more than 450 delegates from throughout the world have confirmed their attendance at the meeting.

The keynote speaker will be Marcel Genet, founder and managing director of Laplace Conseil, a French management firm created in 1995 that specializes in international strategy consulting for the metals, minerals and recycling industries.

Genet will examine the middle- to long-term effects for the recycling industry stemming from the new expansion of the European Union (EU), which has added 10 new member nations, most of them in Eastern Europe.

He is familiar with Eastern European markets, having conducted numerous trade missions and studies pertaining to steel, scrap, nonferrous metal and minerals.

The keynote speech will be just one of several sessions that BIR members and attendees will have a chance to attend at the Berlin convention.

Dr. Albert Rohan, former secretary general of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, will address the "Hot irons of international politics," including conflicts in the Middle East, China’s predominance and Russia’s role in the world.

Rohan has held a variety of posts in his 40-year career in the Austrian diplomatic service. In the U.S., he served as director of the executive office of the UN Secretary-General. He has also been a leading member of diplomatic delegations in Belgrade, Kosovo, Iran and other areas of conflict.

Currently, Rohan is working as lecturer and political commentator for radio, television and print media. He is the author of the book Diplomat on the Fringes of World Politics.

With much of its membership hailing from Europe, the BIR notes that this convention is an important one in terms of EU expansion—offering a chance for scrap traders "to further widen our members’ business opportunities in this important part of the world."

Information on the Spring Convention can be found online at www.bir.org