Rahm bringing global mayors, ministers to Chicago Thursday, Friday. Surprise!

WASHINGTON–Mayor Rahm Emanuel is hosting an international gathering of mayors and ministers Thursday and Friday at Chicago’s Cultural Center. The meeting is a “roundtable” sponsored by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), founded in 1961 with 34 member nations.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg–who appeared with Emanuel in Washington last Friday on an education panel–and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan are among the speakers, as well as Kim Campbell, the former Prime Minister of Canada. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Gov. Pat Quinn and former Illinois Gov. James Thompson are also on the schedule–as are Robert Doyle, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Australia and Sir Richard Leese, Leader of the Council, Manchester, United Kingdom.

This meeting–which was not flagged by the Emanuel administration since a press release January 24–was highlighted Wednesday by the OECD in a release. The U.S. Ambassador to the OECD is Karen Kornbluh, who was President Barack Obama’s policy chief when he was a senator from Illinois.

City Hall spokesman Tom Alexander said planning for the event has been in the works for 10 months. The Chicago based MacArthur, Ford and Bloomberg Foundations are paying the $450,000 conference cost, according to Alexander.

No aldermen or Cook County Board members are participating.

The event is in keeping with Emanuel’s desire to throw a global spotlight on Chicago, a reason he lobbied for the May NATO and G-8 summits in the city. On Monday, Obama announced he was moving the G-8 summit from Chicago to Camp David. Emanuel also landed the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates summit at the University of Illinois at Chicago on April 23-25.

The event is titled the “Fourth OECD Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers OECD Review of the Chicago Tri-State Metro-Region.”

Below, the agenda..

Thursday, March 8 and Friday, March 9, 2012

Chicago, United States

Webcast and remote Q&A available on March 8

With over half of the world’s population currently living in urban areas, cities are critical to achieving a more sustainable economic future. What can cities do to drive economic, environmental and social gains? How will they meet their huge investment needs? Who are the key players on the local, national and international levels to promote a greening of the economy? Ministers and Mayors from around the world will meet in Chicago to discuss these issues and to identify best practices.

The second day of the event is devoted to the economic future of the Chicago Tri-State Metro-Region. The OECD will present a Territorial Review of the region’s economic assets and challenges, the first such report conducted in the United States. Based on this analysis, stakeholders will discuss together with international experts options for economic development in the Chicago region.

The following events are open to the press.

March 8 – OECD Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers

Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington St, Chicago

09:00-09:30am Opening Remarks (Chicago Cultural Center, GAR Hall, 2nd floor / Webcast)

Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York and Chairman of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

Shaun Donovan, US Secretary for Housing and Urban Development

Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago

Angel Gurra, Secretary-General of the OECD

Live webcast at http://www.livestream.com/chicagomayorsoffice

11:00-11:45am News conference (Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park Room, 5th Floor / Webcast)

Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York and Chairman of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

Shaun Donovan, US Secretary for Housing and Urban Development

Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago

Angel Gurra, Secretary-General of the OECD

Live webcast at http://www.livestream.com/chicagomayorsoffice

Journalists who will follow this news conference online can submit their questions via email to matthias.rumpf@oecd.org

1:00-2:30pm Luncheon (Chicago Cultural Center Preston Bradley Hall, 3rd Floor)

Honoring International Women’s Day and launch of the OECD Gender Data Browser

MarySue Barrett, President of the Metropolitan Planning Council

Kim Campbell, Former Prime Minister of Canada

Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago

Angel Gurra, Secretary-General of the OECD

Karen Kornbluh, U.S. Ambassador to the OECD

March 9 – OECD Review of the Chicago Metropolitan Region

Hilton Chicago, 201 N. State Street, Chicago

9:30-10:30am Presentation of the OECD Territorial Review of the Chicago Tri-State Metro Region

Matthew Erskine, Acting Assistant Secretary USDOC EDA

Angel Gurra, Secretary-General of the OECD

Karen Kornbluh, U.S. Ambassador to the OECD

James R. Thompson, Former Governor of Illinois

With contributions from:

Robert Doyle, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Australia

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of the Council, Manchester, United Kingdom

Pat Quinn, Governor of Illinois

Dan Hasler, Indiana’s Secretary of Commerce

11:00-11:30am News conference (Hilton Chicago, Joliet Room)

Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago

Matthew Erskine, Acting Assistant Secretary USDOC EDA

Angel Gurra, Secretary-General of the OECD

Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President

12:00-2:00pm Combating Global Headwinds: The OECD Perspective (Hilton Chicago, Waldorf Room)

Address by Angel Gurra, Secretary-General of the OECD, on the OECD’s current perspectives on the global economy

Press registration

Journalists who wish to attend any of these events are invited to register via email to lillian.grabill@oecd.org

Press ContactS

OECD, Matthias Rumpf, matthias.rumpf@oecd.org

C40 Cities and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mike Marinello, mmarinello@c40.com

City of Chicago, Tom Alexander, City of Chicago, tom.alexander@cityofchicago.org

US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Peter True, peter.w.true@hud.gov

The full program for this event, a list of participating Mayors and Ministers and information on webcasts are available at www.oecd.org/urban/roundtable

The Territorial Review for the Chicago region will be available at http://oecdwash.org/chicagoreview