The National Retail Federation announced that Kofi Annan, formerly Secretary-General of the United Nations will keynote Retail’s BIG Show, January 13-16, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. Annan’s keynote, “Building Strong Nations: The Three Pillars to a Prosperous Society,” is scheduled for Monday, January 14, 2013 at 8:45 a.m.

 

Secretary-General Annan will discuss how small-and-medium sized businesses have the potential to drive prosperity and engage societies to improve social and economic conditions worldwide.

 

Kofi A. Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving two terms, from January 1997 to December 2006. In 2001 Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with the citation praising his leadership for “bringing new life to the organization”.

 

“As one of the world’s most distinguished and experienced diplomats, we are honored to welcome Kofi Annan to NRF’s 2013 Annual Convention,” stated NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “We look forward to hearing his tremendous perspective on business and society, garnered from his service at the United Nations and his work to strengthen international cooperation.”

 

Retail’s BIG Show and EXPO serve as the world's leading retail event, bringing 25,500 retail executives and vendors from more than 75 countries together for educational and networking opportunities. The convention has been ranked as one of the Top 200 events in North America, as well as one of the 50 fastest-growing events. Other speakers at Retail’s BIG Show 2013 include executives from Coca-Cola, Starbucks, The Container Store and Whole Foods.