“When I started the International Business Leaders Forum some 14 years ago, I felt that the rapid political and economic changes that the world experienced in the late 1980s could lead all too easily to unsustainable growth and dangerous instability.

I also felt that international business could be a force for good, if it was guided by a longer-term vision for sustainability and responsible behaviour. Most importantly, it needed to be guided through partnerships focussed on practical action to develop opportunities in local communities.”

HRH The Prince of Wales, 2004

The Prince of Wales is the President of the International Business Leaders Forum. He was the inspiration behind the organisation and founded it in February 1990 at a business leadership meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, with a select group of international business chief executives.

Central to the founding of IBLF was His Royal Highness’s long-term awareness of the importance of corporate responsibility. Around 1990, The Prince was becoming particularly concerned that globalisation was bringing new risks of unparalleled social pressures. He also feared that the collapse of Communism and rapid spread of market economies would lead to concern over what he called the ‘social dimension’ of business, particularly if the growth produced by the move to capitalism was unsustainable.

He has played an active role in IBLF, having taken part in over 50 IBLF events and programmes in some 30 countries and regularly meets with members. To find out more about The Prince of Wales, go to the official website - www.princeofwales.gov.uk.

The Prince's Charities

IBLF is part of The Prince's Charities, a group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is President. Some 14 of the 16 Charities were founded personally by The Prince.

The group is the largest multi-cause charitable enterprise in the United Kingdom, raising over £100 million annually. The organisations are active across a broad range of areas including opportunity and enterprise, education, health, the built environment, responsible business, the natural environment and the arts.

The charities reflect The Prince of Wales's long-term and innovative perspective, and seek to address areas of previously unmet need.

IBLF works particularly closely with Business in the Community, a unique movement of 700 of the UK's top companies committed to improving their positive impact on society. To find out more about The Prince's Charities, go to the official website - www.princescharities.org

Opportunity and Enterprise
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust
PRIME and PRIME Cymru

Education
The Prince's Drawing School
The Prince's School of Traditional Arts
The Prince's Institute for Teaching

Health
The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health

The Built Environment
The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment
The Prince's Regeneration Trust

Responsible Business and the Natural Environment
Business in the Community
Scottish Business in the Community
The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum
The Prince of Wales's Business & The Environment Programme
In Kind Direct

The Arts
Arts and Business
The Prince of Wales Arts & Kids Foundation