This year the event brought in seven globally recognized keynote speakers, and is organized by WOBI (World Of Business Ideas), an international event organizer that holds similar forums in México, Spain & Portugal, as well as Colombia’s capital of Bogotá.

Martha Lucia Maldonado is the Colombia Country Manager for WOBI

“We do three different types of events. The first type is the World Business Forum held in various locations. The second is the World Leadership Forum. Here in Colombia we hold that, but in other global locations we have the World Marketing & Sales Forum, the World Innovation Forum, and there is a third type of event we do, our seminars,” said WOBI Country Manager Martha Lucia Maldonado in a conversation with Finance Colombia. “Here in Colombia, this year we organized two. The first one held here in Medellín was WOBI Digital Transformation, and the second one held last October in Bogotá was the WOBI Family Business Seminar. These are targeted to a very specific niche of attendees with very focused themes.”

Keynote speakers this year included management guru and author Ram Charan (pictured above), Saatchi & Saatchi former CEO Kevin Roberts, paleontologist Ignacio Martínez Mendizábal, tsunami survivor Maria Belón, human resources expert Alejandro Melamed, mountain climber Edurne Pasaban, and Colombian influencer Sylvia Ramirez.

“Today Medellín is going through a crucial moment in its economic development and positioning in the world, today we are protagonists in the hemisphere for our determined commitment to social and urban transformation, in sponsoring events, in the arrival of visitors, investor confidence and the support of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs in the generation of productive dynamics, said Paula Andrea Zapata Galeano, Secretary of Economic Development for the city of Medellín. “However, these achievements are not exclusive to the public sector, the union of efforts with entrepreneurs, academia and citizens has been key to achieving these common goals. For that reason, we are happy to be the hosts of the World Leadership Forum again, the largest meeting of leaders in the region.”