Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson

The Director of the Earth Institute, Jeffrey Sachs, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, and Indian businessmen Baba Kalyani and Sunil Bharti Mittal are the recipients of this year’s Global Economy Prize that will be awarded on June 21st in Germany. The Global Economy Prize is awarded annually by the German Kiel Institute for the world Economy, the Schleswig-Holstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the City of Kiel to economists, politicians, and businesspeople that have made outstanding contributions to promoting a globally open, market-based society. It is meant to stimulate a dialog between large societal groups with a view to finding ways to meet global economic challenges.

The Global Economy Prize honours those public figures that are "exceptionally engaged in finding global approaches to promote individual and social responsibility in society." This year, the prize is awarded to a renowned economist, a high-ranking politician, and two successful businesspersons. Last year’s recipients were Nobel Prize Winner Professor Edmund S. Phelps, EU competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, and Dietmar Hopp, founder of German software giant SAP.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, born in 1954, is Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, and the Director of the Earth Institute. He is also special advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and served as such under Kofi Annan as well, where he helped formulate the UN-Millennium Goals geared towards confronting epidemics, poverty and extreme hunger. Sachs is also President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty. He is internationally renowned for his work as economic advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa, and his work with international agencies on problems of poverty reduction, debt relief for the poorest countries, and disease control.

Mary Robinson, born in 1944, was the first female President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. Th eKiel Institute says that during her presidency, Robinson earned great respect for her ability to create new political impulses. Robinson resigned the presidency four months ahead of the end of her term to accept the post at the United Nations. As High Commissioner, Robinson gave priority to integrate human rights concerns in all the activities of the United Nations. Robinson became Honorary President of Oxfam International in 2002. In addition, Mary Robinson works with a number of Commissions and Boards of Trustees for human rights, development, epidemic control and ethics.

Baba Kalyani was born in 1949 and is Chairman of the Kalyani Group, one of India’s leading industrial companies with manufacturing plants in the USA, Scotland, Germany, Sweden, and China. He is also Executive Director of Bharat Forge, the Kalyani Group’s flagship company. Baba Kalyani is an engineer with degrees from the Birla Institute of Technology in Pilani (State of Rajasthan) and also holds an M.Sc. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is an active member in a number of international institutes in sectors ranging from industry, trade, and education, also in conjunction with the World Economic Forum. Baba Kalyani also serves as a member of several consulting bodies for the Indian government. He is also Founding Chairman of the Pratham Pune Education Foundation, a charity that provides education for underprivileged children from the city of Pune.

Sunil Bharti Mittal was born in 1957 and is Chairman of the Bharti Group, India’s largest telecommunication company. Sunil Mittal can be considered the father of India’s cellular revolution: he built up the Bharti Group, leads her as Managing Director, and controls India’s cellular phone network according to GSM standards. After founding the company, originally based on IT-hardware, Mittal secured the rights to New Delhi’s cellular network during the governments’ initial offering of cellular network licenses in 1992, along with a foreign partner. In 1995, he founded Charti Cellular Limited (BCL) which provides cell phone services India-wide and internationally. Sunil Mittal has been distinguished with many prizes and awards honouring him "as an outstanding business personality and IT-pioneer," according to the Kiel Institute.