GGI Conference Reviews
GGI EasyMeet & Nordic Baltic Meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, 26-28 September 2024
GGI World Conference (incl. the GGI Asia-Pacific Regional Conference and a GCG M&A Dealmakers Meeting), Tokyo, Japan, 05-09 November 2024
It's been quite some time since we held an EasyMeet in the European region, so it was such a joy to be able to invite the “younger” members of GGI to join us in Tallinn for this year's GGI Nordic-Baltic Meeting. We were very lucky to have as our sponsoring host firms – both based in Tallinn city – such wonderful GGI members: Grow Finance OÜ and Sirel & Partners Attorneys at Law.
Over the course of the two days, the participants had sessions that were combined and then separate, but always ended the day together with a fabulous dinner.
But let's start at the beginning, on the Thursday afternoon, where the International Taxation Practice Group organised a “Young ITPG” meeting for members under the age of 40. The meeting was chaired by Dr Federico Grossi (Sistini Grossi & Partners, Italy), and featured presentations from the cohort – all of whom were attending their first ever GGI event.
Bearing in mind how many new attendees were here, we also ran an “Understanding GGI” session. GGI Global CEO, Michael Reiss von Filski, ran through how our organisation and how we function, while at the same time allowing new members to introduce themselves.
In the evening, the Welcome Reception and Dinner was very well attended, not only by conference participants but also esteemed local and international dignitaries, and guests from the local community, including members of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland.
On Friday morning, keynote speaker Marko Mihkelson eloquently spoke about whether World War III was inevitable. He pointed out that we are currently living in the midst of world-changing wars and conflicts that, in their entirety, threaten to develop into a major global conflict, possibly even World War III. The desire of Russia and China to remove the Western world from the position of the main shaper of the rules of the existing order is the main reason for the ongoing major conflict. If we want to preserve the rules-based world order and maintain the leading role of democratic countries, then Russia must be crushed in its war of aggression and Ukraine must be helped to victory. (Post-event note: what now?)
Marko Mihkelson is Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Estonian Parliament. Marko was first elected to the Parliament in 2003 and is serving his sixth mandate. He has served in previous parliaments as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair of the EU Affairs Committee, and Chair of the National Defense Committee. Between 2000 and 2003, he worked as the Director of the Baltic Centre for Russian Studies; from 1997 to 2000, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the biggest national daily newspaper Postimees; and from 1994 to 1997 he was Postimees’s correspondent in Moscow. Marko has an MA degree in History from the University of Tartu. He chairs the Council of Foreign Relations of Estonia and he is a Member of the Council of the European Council of Foreign Relations and ICDS. He is author of the books “Russia: In Dusk and Dawn“ (2010) and “The Disruptive Era” (2018).
Following the keynote speech, Rannar Park (Head of Business Management at e-Estonia's Briefing Centre) talked us through “e-Estonia: Beyond Digital”. For decades, Estonia has been building and branding itself as a digital nation, claiming to help its citizens spend less time on bureaucracy through digitalization of public and private services. Rannar looked at what this means, what the building blocks of a digital nation are, and how the daily lives of Estonians have been affected.
Ulvi Tallo (Grow Finance OÜ, Estonia) rounded off the morning session by looking at “How accounting is done in the country with the most unicorns per capita”. Rather than focusing on technical accounting, she discussed the cultural characteristics of Estonians when doing business with them – based on the experience gained through international projects and from the perspective of her firm. It was a truly infomative and excellent – and also fun – presentation.
After lunch, the participants were split into two: with the EasyMeet group heading off for a scavenger hunt adventure around the city and the Nordic-Baltic group getting down to serious business with a presentation on “The rise of Estonian tax … in Poland” by Piotr Prokocki (Penteris, Poland) and another on the “10 Steps to US Expansion” by David Lewis (USTAXFS, UK).
No rest for the wicked, they say, and so after the closing of the official meeting, all participants headed over to the office premises of GGI member and one of our hosts, Sirel & Partners. What a spread they laid out for the group, in their most beautifully designed office! Such a warm welcome that it was rather hard to leave for the Closing Dinner at Rudolf Restaurant – but what a meal that was, classic French cuisine with Estonian flavours. Certainly ending on a high note.
While some of our members started to make their way home on Saturday, there were also others who decided to make the most of their trip by going on the optional excursion that was offered, to Lahemaa National Park and its manors. This provided additional, excellent informal networking opportunities.
Overall, this was a wonderful event, that certainly met the goals of fostering collaboration, building relationships and sharing insights. We're already looking forward to the 2025 event in Helsinki!
This year's GGI World Conference was an exceptional gathering for well over 200 global professionals from the GGI family. Hosted at the prestigious Hilton Tokyo, the event brought together our experts from various disciplines – including law, accounting, tax, consulting and M&A/investment banking – to foster international collaboration and address pressing industry topics. Sponsoring host firms IDEA International Accounting Office and Kojima Law Offices were fantastic, and certainly very welcoming not only to members at the conference but also to their offices.
GGI Asia-Pacific Regional Conference during 05 - 06 November 2024
With the World Conference already planned in Tokyo, it was a no-brainer to add the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference as a clip-on to the main event. GGI participants who registered for the World Conference were automatically entitled to attend this smaller event for free, and many of our members who might not necessarily have attended the regional event before took the opportunity to meet up with the “local” members.
The conference began on the Tuesday evening with Welcome Reception and Dinner in Dynasty Chinese Restaurant in the Hilton Tokyo. This gathering set the tone for the event, allowing delegates to meet, network, and establish connections in a relaxed setting.
On Wednesday morning, the conference was officially opened by David Braun, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan. GGI Regional CEO, Peter Kaeser, welcomed everyone and presented a short management report before Sarinthip Srisasiwilai introduced all of our new member firms and candidates attending the event.
During the course of the morning, members from different countries in the region – including Australia, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia – shared their expertise and knowledge with fellow attendees. Let's just not talk about how bad our guesses were, however, for Willy Tan's quiz during his presentation, “Unlocking Insights: Fun Facts and Figures from the Asia-Pacific Region”…..
GGI World Conference
Most of our members already know our standard format rather well. We begin our large conferences with the International Taxation Practice Group (ITPG) session, followed by an Understanding GGI meeting for new members and those attending a GGI event for the first time.
Prior to the Welcome Reception, the GGI Women got together for a round of informal networking. Somehow it always feels like magic to be able to connect with one another before the busy-ness of the conference gets underway.
Before we served any food at the Welcome Dinner, GGI Global CEO Michael Reiss von Filski made sure to introduce all the new members and candidate firms attending the conference. Then, together with Chairman Claudio G. Cocca and Keynote Speaker Prof Jacob Soll, there was a traditional sake barrel-breaking ceremony (known as a “kagami biraki”).
Plenary Session and More Expert Group Meetings
Thursday was dedicated to the plenary session and focused discussions. The day opened with two fantastic keynote speeches, by Daiju Aoki and then Professor Jacob Soll.
Daiju Aoki spoke about “The Future of Japan”. Japan’s economy has been struggling with low growth and low inflation for decades. However, there are some changes that have made the highest over 33-year inflation and wage growth. Can Japan finally overcome deflation? Can the Yen currency be strengthened from its historically low level? Can the political situation under new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba be supportive on economic growth and inflation? How can Japan enhance its mid- to long-term growth potentials? The speech covered these crucial questions on Japan, and provided insight into the workings of the Japanese Cabinet Office and government.
Daiju Aoki is the Regional CIO and Chief Economist for Japan at UBS's Chief Investment Office, Wealth Management. Mr Aoki focuses on Japan macroeconomics, currencies and fixed income, as well as on enhancing communication of the UBS Wealth Management House View.
Prior to joining the wealth management division, he served as Economist for UBS Investment Bank's Equity Research franchise in Japan. In that role, Mr Aoki offered views on Japanese macroeconomics, policies and financial markets, and advised institutional clientele on investment decisions. In 2015 and 2016, he ranked top economist among global firms (5th overall) in the Institutional Investor "All-Japan Research Team" rankings.
Mr Aoki joined UBS Securities in 2010. Prior to that, he served nine years as an economist in Japan's Cabinet Office where he was responsible for macro-econometric models used in mid-long term economic and fiscal projections and in policy planning under the Koizumi, Abe and Fukuda Cabinets. Mr Aoki holds a Master's degree in Economics (ABD) from Brown University.
Prof Jacob Soll's keynote, “Monsieur Colbert Builds a Market”, was a fascinating tale, weaving together the story of how Louis XIV’s famed minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert came up with a unique plan to build industry and a market. In the 1650s, Holland and England had become the leading economic powers, while giant France had been economically left behind with anaemic commercial base and a lagging market. Colbert's plan was the first case of a country trying to build itself into an advanced economic nation. In some ways it failed, but for the most part, Louis and Colbert, the builders of Versailles and the global luxury trades, made a blueprint for wealth creation that still provides valuable lessons today of what to do and not to do to build a successful industrial economy.
Today, countries are battling it out over industrial policy. East Asia is at the centre of strategic national tech scale ups. We don’t know the outcomes yet, but we do know there is a history to industrial policy.
Born in 1968, Jacob Soll is a Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Philosophy, History and Accounting at the University of Southern California, Dornsife, in the USA. He received a D.E.A. from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France, and a PhD from Magdalene College, Cambridge University, in the UK. He has taught at Cambridge University (UK), Princeton University (USA), Rutgers University (USA), and the European University Institute (Italy).
Soll has been awarded numerous prestigious prizes including the Jacques Barzun Prize from the American Philosophical Society, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and, in 2011, the USD 500,000 MacArthur “Genius Prize” Fellowship. An expert in economic and political history, his best-selling book, “The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations” (2014), presents a sweeping history of accounting and politics. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times, Politico, the Boston Globe, The New Republic, PBS, Salon.com and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
He has spent the last several years directly involved with policy questions concerning the Greek debt crisis and EU economic policy, working with Greek, EU and private stake-holders, and has recently worked with the Portuguese Government on financial reform. An award-winning Renaissance and Enlightenment intellectual historian, Professor Soll was also named one of the Top Accounting Power 50 2015 by The Accountant magazine, the oldest publication in the profession. Mixing historical scholarship with policy studies, he is now a noted independent public spokesperson for government transparency, international financial standards and professional accounting ethics.
He lives in Los Angeles.
Following lunch, attendees participated in a mix of Expert Group meetings, with workshops and interactive discussions on topics such as:
Personal Branding vs Professional Branding in today's world (in the Best Practices for Professional Services Organisations Practice Group), with an international panel that examined relevant questions such as social media risks and rewards, how to differentiate from competitors, what didn't work, etc.
Transfer Pricing using the Statler & Waldorf case study (in the Indirect Taxes Practice Group)
Cross-border Insolvency and Recovery: the case of Fisker Automotive (in a combined session for the Debt Collection, Restructuring & Insolvency (DCRI) + Litigation & Dispute Resolution (LDR) Practice Groups)
Corporate Governance & Compliance around the world
Integrating DEI into your Marketing Strategy
During the three days of our conference, we ran 12 separate Expert Group meetings, as well as the GCG M&A Dealmakers Meeting. These breakout sessions were tailored to the interests of the different professional groups attending, including tax advisors, auditors, legal professionals, M&A specialists, consultants, etc.
At this point, we would like to also acknowledge the hard work and effort that goes into running these meetings, by our Expert Group Chairs, as well as our members who have stepped up to present or run discussion panels/workshops. Thank you for everything that you do to make our conferences so enlightening and enriching.
Cultural Immersion
A highlight of the conference was the number of optional excursions and offsite events. It was a goal of ours to make sure that attendees are able to experience the rich culture and cuisine of Japan, so as to deepen our attendees' appreciation of the host city.
From sushi-making to touring the Asakusa traditional district, visiting the Meiji Shrine, experiencing as much as possible of Kyoto in two days – we certainly packed it all in.
It would certainly be impossible to do everything during one visit to Japan. However, we hope that we provided the best possible teaser for the next visit!
Impact and Highlights
The GGI World Conference 2024 was a resounding success, reinforcing GGI’s commitment to fostering professional development and global collaboration. The carefully curated sessions, combined with Tokyo’s vibrant cultural backdrop, created an unforgettable experience for participants.
The event underscored the importance of continuous learning and innovation in today’s rapidly evolving professional landscape. Attendees departed with a renewed sense of purpose, armed with actionable knowledge and definitely an expanded professional network.
Here are what some members had to say about the Conference
"This year’s conference was one of the best I’ve attended. Having travelled to many GGI conferences in Europe and the Americas previously, we saw this as a great opportunity to connect with more of our fellow Asia-Pacific members, and also to enjoy some wonderful Japanese food, culture and sights afterwards. The speakers and seminars were of a high standard and the conference overall had a great vibe. Congratulations to the GGI team for putting on a terrific conference in Tokyo."
Steven Humphries (Walter Baden, Sydney, NSW, Australia)
"Attending the conference was an incredibly enriching experience, and I deeply appreciated the opportunity to also participate in the GGI Asia-Pacific Regional Conference for the first time.
This additional event added great value to my journey, broadening my perspective on the global initiatives of GGI.
One of the highlights was the keynote speech by Daiju Aoki, who took us on a fascinating journey into Japan's future, exploring the country's economic data and intertwining it with cultural references. His presentation was both insightful and thought-provoking. Another memorable moment was the combined Practice Group session for LDR and DCRI, where Mario Kapp, together with Byron Z. Moldo and Michiel Teekens, presented a compelling case study on the failure of an automotive company in Austria, which had significant repercussions in the United States. The depth of discussion and shared expertise made this session particularly impactful.
Additionally, I truly valued the opportunity to contribute during the Practice Group BDM, where I shared insights on how our firm, Kairos LBC, manages the inbound and outbound connections of GGI members. It was a privilege to exchange ideas with such an engaged and professional audience.
The gala evening was an extraordinary experience, culminating in a touching moment during Laszlo Tunyogi’s farewell speech. This heartfelt address added an emotional depth to an already unforgettable event.
Overall, this was another outstanding and truly memorable GGI conference, and I am grateful for having been a part of it."
Patrizia Giannini (Kairós Legal & Business Consultants, Rome, Italy)
Were you looking for more photos?
Unfortunately, we haven't received the official ones back from our photographer just yet. Please tune in to the next issue of INSIDER for the gallery of official photographs.
