Speakers

Biography

Jean-Paul Agon has pursued his entire career with L’Oréal. Jean-Paul Agon's career is like the man himself: energetic, unwavering and enterprising. With a background spanning a wide range of responsibilities, he has forged leadership skills underpinned by key expertise: in-depth knowledge of how the company operates an international approach and a global vision of major challenges ahead.

Biography

John M. Beck is founder and President and Chief Executive Officer of Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE), Canada’s premier construction and infrastructure development company.   A leader in providing services to private and public sector clients throughout Canada and internationally, Aecon primarily serves the Infrastructure, Energy and Mining sectors.

A graduate in Civil Engineering from McGill University, Mr. Beck has more than 50 years of experience in the construction industry in Canada and internationally. His background includes corporate leadership in numerous construction activities including heavy civil projects and public-private partnerships for the development of infrastructure, such as airports, toll roads and transit systems.

Mr. Beck is currently a member of the Board of Directors of PPP Canada, the Ontario Financing Authority, the Royal Conservatory of Music as well as Co-Chair of the Infrastructure & Urban Development Industries at the World Economic Forum.  He is a member of the Advisory Council for the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and is also a member of the Business Council of Canada. He was previously Chairman of the Board of the Ontario Power Authority, a government agency with responsibility for planning and procuring all of the province’s power needs for the next 20 years.  He was named P3 Champion of the Year by the Canadian Council of Public Private Partnerships in 2013. In recognition of his distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession, Mr. Beck was inducted as a Fellow into the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Biography

Angel Gurría came to the OECD following a distinguished career in public service that included two ministerial posts. As Mexico’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from December 1994 to January 1998, he made dialogue and consensus-building one of the hallmarks of his approach to global issues. From January 1998 to December 2000, he was Mexico’s Minister of Finance and Public Credit. For the first time in a generation, he steered Mexico’s economy through a change of Administration without a recurrence of the financial crises that had previously dogged such changes.

Biography

Gérard Mestrallet is a graduate of the French engineering school, École Polytechnique, and of École Nationale d’Administration. Having held various positions at the Treasury Department and on the staff of the Minister of Economy and Finance (Jacques Delors), Gérard Mestrallet joined Compagnie Financière de SUEZ in 1984. In 1986 he was appointed Senior Executive Vice-President in charge of industrial affairs. In 1991 he was named Chairman of the Management Committee of Société Générale de Belgique. In 1995, he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Compagnie de SUEZ. Gérard Mestrallet was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GDF SUEZ (now ENGIE) when SUEZ merged with Gaz de France on July 2008. Since May 3 2016, he is Chairman of the Board of ENGIE and Chairman of the Board of SUEZ.

Biography

Gregory J. Smith Gregory Smith is President and Chief Executive Officer of InstarAGF, and is widely recognized as a pioneer and authority in the infrastructure investment community, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the investment, operation, acquisition, and financing of public and private infrastructure, real estate, power, and utility businesses. Prior to founding the Instar Group of companies, Mr. Smith served as Managing Partner and head of Brookfield Financial’s Global Infrastructure Advisory Group; President of Macquarie Capital Funds Canada Ltd.; Managing Director and Co-Head of RBC Capital Partners–Mezzanine Fund; and Managing Director at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance. Mr. Smith is currently the Executive Chairman of Nieuport Aviation Infrastructure Partners, which owns the passenger terminal at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and sits on the advisory boards of Lighthouse Equity Partners, a private equity provider, and Avrio Ventures, an agriculture technology fund. Active in the private equity and venture capital sector since 1994, Mr. Smith served for a number of years on the Board of Directors of Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, including as Chair and President. He is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator.