Focus, talent, communication and information technology hold the key to Shanghai's success, high-profile corporate leaders said during an annual business meet on Sunday.

About 80 leaders of some of the world's largest companies, including HSBC, Tesco, Danone and Novartis, participated in the 22nd International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai, this year themed "to build Shanghai as a vibrant and innovative city".

In his address, Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng stressed the importance of innovation as the city aims to become the world's financial and shipping center and committed to invest 100 billion yuan (US$14.99 billion) in key industries including new IT, biology, high-end manufacturing and new energy over the next three years.

The annual meeting, aimed at turning Shanghai into a global business center, was initiated by former Premier Zhu Rongji.

"Innovation is about seeing what others can't, and being able to get there first," said John Bond, chairman of Vodafone Group.

"In order to foster innovation, a city must build a culture and infrastructure that encourages people to see new things and gives them the tools to bring these ideas to the market," he said. "The challenge for Shanghai, as with all other cities with an innovation-driven economy, is to make sure it is always more attractive to join than to compete with."

S Gopalakrishnan, CEO of Infosys Technologies Limited, zeroed in on the status of information technology among the competitive industries that Shanghai should focus on in the wake of the financial crisis.

"IT has been a driver of business transformation, economic growth, wealth and job creation. This will certainly continue in the decades to come," he said. "If Shanghai wants to bring about change, it must become a major force in information technology."

DuPont CEO Ellen J Kullman pointed to the communication of the city's innovation strategy, focus and incentive schemes.

She stressed the importance of setting up an integrated organization to implement strategies and provide services, defining the roles of multinationals in advancing science and technology and involving them in the process, besides attracting more talent in the field of research and development.

Teisuke Kitayama, president of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, said Shanghai should focus on creating a highly eco-friendly city and addressing certain urban issues.

"To create a highly eco-friendly city, Shanghai should lead the way in achieving China's goal of reducing the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by the year 2020, compared with the level in 2005," he said.

"To address urban issues, Shanghai should target traffic congestion, waste disposal and other issues related to the urban environment," he added.

CP Group's chairman Dhanin Chearavanont underlined the utilization of the opening of the market and people's awareness to gain insight to assist Shanghai's future development.

"Transform the world market into your market, transform the world's resources into your own resources, transform the world's talent into your own talent and transform the world's development opportunities into your development opportunities," he said.

(China Daily October 11, 2010)