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„New World Order“ is the title under which the 11th Global DIY Summit officially opened today. Nearly 1,000 participants from 55 countries, including 350 retailers, are gathering today in Lisbon at the MEO Arena. The chosen theme reflects the current turbulent times around the world. These were described in the opening video, which highlighted the war in Ukraine, US President Donald Trump, climate change, natural disasters, political and economic turmoil, tariffs, the decline of the US dollar and the risks posed by AI.
The summit was opened by John W. Herbert, who has opened the congresses since the first meeting in Vienna in 2010 and was also on stage in Lisbon at the age of 83. Herbert emphasised his enthusiasm for the possibilities of AI by having a large part of his opening speech written by Chat GPT. Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, is represented at the Global DIY Summit for the first time, as John Herbert emphasised from the stage. Herbert said that he could not remember a time in his life when the world had been in such turmoil, citing the war in Europe, in Gaza and the US, which is taking a step back as a pillar of the free world.
Iñaki Maillard, General Manager of the Global DIY Summit, called on summit participants to make the congress a celebration of diversity, especially in these times marked by violence.
The opening speeches by Herbert and Maillard were followed by speeches by Thierry Garnier, Edra/Ghin President and CEO of Kingfisher, and Reinhard Wolff, Hima President. Reinhard Wolff said that 2024 had been a rollercoaster ride. He mentioned climate change, the threat to global free trade, disputes over raw materials and wars, among other things. Rarely had a conference been more necessary than today, Wolff said. Wolff also announced that he would be stepping down as HIMA President in April 2025.
Thierry Garnier spoke about his trip to China in 2024 and his impressions of the highly digitalised retail sector, which is strongly influenced by online commerce. With regard to the challenges of climate change, Garnier explained that he tends to be a perfectionist, but that in times like these it is more important to achieve 80 per cent quickly than 100 per cent perfectly.
As announced in the opening speeches, the first presentation of the day, given by Sony Kapoor, Professor of Geoeconomics, Climate and Finance, also dealt with the turbulent political events around the world. Kapoor did not hold back in his criticism of the current US administration and emphasised the need for Europe to focus less on the US and more on China, India and the Global South in its international orientation.
