PARIS — The Consumer Goods Forum here said Tuesday its Global Summit will be held June 15-17 in Barcelona instead of its original planned location, Tokyo.
All registered delegates for Tokyo will be contacted to reconfirm their bookings beginning April 1, the group said.
The Consumer Goods Forum is a global industry network that brings together top executives from over 650 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders across 70 countries. It was created in 2009 by the merger of CIES, The Global Commerce Initiative and the Global CEO Forum.
"We have spent the past two weeks assessing the situation," Klaus Dohle, chairman of Dohle Handelsgruppe Holding, Germany, who is chairman of the Global Summit committee, said in a letter to members. "Given the current concerns about traveling to Tokyo, together with other uncertainties, a collective decision was made — with the support of the Tokyo Taskforce — to postpone the 2011 Tokyo Summit.”
After researching various cities around the world, the committee selected Barcelona as an alternate venue for this year’s summit meeting.
Dohle said the Consumer Goods Forum plans charity and fund-raising initiatives to support Japan. “We have no doubt Japan will emerge stronger than ever and look forward to holding a successful summit in Tokyo within two years."
Besides Dohle, the letter was signed by Motoya Okado, president of Aeon Co. on behalf of the Tokyo Summit Task Force, and Jean-Marc Saubade, managing director of the Consumer Goods Forum.