Talking points
Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
Sotheby's will put the Pink Star diamond up for auction in Geneva, billed as the most valuable diamond ever to be offered at auction and estimated to fetch in excess of US$60 million. The flawless 59.6 carat stone was mined in Africa by De Beers in 1999. Last month at Sotheby's Hong Kong sale a rare 7.59 carat blue diamond surprised the industry by failing to reach its US$19 million estimate, but was later sold privately. The current world auction record-holder is the Graff Pink, a 24.78 carat pink diamond less than half the size of the Pink Star, which sold for US$46 million three years ago, also through Sotheby's.
A former Japanese prime minister and a Nobel laureate in economics will speak at City University today. Yukio Hatoyama served as prime minister of Japan from September 2009 to June 2010 and was the first Japanese leader from the Democratic Party of Japan. He will present his vision for the East Asian community. Myron S. Scholes, professor of finance at Stanford University, will discuss the global economy in the wake of the financial crisis. Scholes is known for his work in options pricing and was co-originator of the Black-Scholes options pricing model.
Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo is keynote speaker at the 2nd Annual Africa Investment Summit being held today at the Conrad Hotel, which will spotlight Mauritius and Kenya as country investment targets. Other topics for debate include African-Asian merger and acquisition deals, the development of African debt capital markets, and Asian investor perspectives on Africa. Obasanjo, who served as president of Nigeria from 1999 until 2007, oversaw a period of economic and political reform in the country. He is a strong advocate and practitioner of private enterprise in Africa.
With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil just under seven months away, the next few days will see teams from six different confederations do battle in a series of all important play-offs. Uruguay take on Jordan in Amman today, and an upset victory could see Jordan become the only Arab side in the tournament. On Friday Ukraine meet France, with the French side favourites to win.
Hong Kong's former chief justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang will speak on the importance of the rule of law at a KPMG Leaders of our Community luncheon at the Hong Kong Bankers' Club. The last time the city's former top judge spoke in public he suggested a time frame of "15 to 20 years" for settlement on the future of the "one country, two systems" model. Li, who retired as chief justice in 2010, was part of a Hong Kong delegation that travelled to Beijing in 1983 to request China extend Britain's lease on Hong Kong when it expired in 1997.
