Surrey's seventh annual economic summit got under way today (Thursday) at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel.
Headline speakers at the Surrey Regional Economic Summit include former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard and former Greek prime minister George Papandreou.
Organizers hope attendees will learn something from the economies of those three nations, drawing both from the successes and failures of their policies.
The day-long event was kicked off by B.C. Finance Minister Michael de Jong, who was expected to highlight aspects of the Feb. 18 provincial budget.
Also coming to speak at the event are Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, chief economist with the Business Council of B.C. Ken Peacock, Dean Emeritus of the Sauder Business School Michael Goldberg, Andrew Ramlo, executive director of Urban Futures, and Shauna Sylvester, a Fellow at SFU Centre for Dialogue.
The event is slated to run from 7:15 a.m. to 2 p.m.