Clinton to speak about globalization

  • 2002-05-16
  • Aleksei Gunter
TALLINN

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will speak at the annual Aripaev Economic Conference on economic development in Tallinn on June 10.

Clinton, who will join a panel of speakers from around Estonia, is scheduled to speak on globalization issues but the exact topic of his speech, which is scheduled to run 75 minutes, has not been released.

Clinton has spent much of the time since he left office in January 2001 delivering lectures - usually for a fee. He has made an estimated 200 speeches in 30 countries in the 14 months after he left office.

Clinton normally charges between $200,000 to $300,000 for overseas speeches, but has given discounts and even spoken for free in many African countries.

Teeli Remmelg, a project manager of Aripaev Conferences, a company named for the daily newspaper Aripaev, a co-sponsor of the event, said the company normally doesn't pay speakers, but Clinton is an exception. "It's a question of prestige for most Estonians to speak at our seminars, but we will have to pay Clinton," she said.

Remmelg refused to say how much Clinton was being paid.

About 60 participants have registered to attend the conference at a cost of $1,000 each, which is far above normal conference fees in Estonia. The money collected from the registration fees will go toward construction of an orphanage in the village of Kiikla in northeastern Estonia.

Other scheduled guests include: Estonian President Arnold Ruutel, former President Lennart Meri, University of California-Irvine and Tartu University professor Rein Taagepara, former Foreign Minister Toomas Ilves, Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar and U.S. Ambassador Joseph DeThomas.