Interview with E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company

A major pillar of the programme for the World Economic Forum on the Middle East will be based on alternative scenarios for the future of the region. What scenario would you like to see emerging by 2025, and what is the first issue that needs to be addressed in 2008 in order to move in the right direction?

The Middle East is a diverse region composed of many countries at varied stages of economic development, yet all of them face the crucial challenge of enhancing economic growth to create jobs for their large and young populations. In addition to job creation, the region faces other major challenges, including infrastructure development, education, gender inequality and poverty alleviation.

Clearly, it is not possible to predict one scenario that will be true for every country in the region in 2025. One can only hope that those countries endowed with energy wealth will spend their capital wisely for the long-term benefit of their societies and use it to promote increasing trade and economic development within the region as well as with the rest of the world.

For our part, the Coca-Cola system is a significant contributor to economic growth and job creation throughout the region. As a local company in every country where our products are sold, we use local inputs and local distribution systems. And, for every job within the Coca-Cola system, a further 7-12 jobs are created in each country’s economy as a result of these linkages.

How do governments and the private sector need to start working together today to address the future challenges of water? What business opportunities might emerge?

At The Coca-Cola Company, we are an integral part of helping local communities deal effectively with the water challenges they are facing today and will increasingly face in the future. This is especially true because water is fundamental to our business and to the sustainability of the communities where we operate. In 2007, The Coca-Cola Company announced its objective to become entirely water neutral on a global basis. We have begun several strategic initiatives, both internally and externally, with specific goals and objectives. Within our system, we have set solid mid and long term targets for water stewardship at our bottling facilities, including recycling, and waste water treatment and the reduction of our water use ratio - - the amount of water used to produce a unit of our beverages. With NGOs, governments and other private sector partners, we are working to protect watersheds, increase communities’ access to fresh water, educate communities about watershed management and increase global awareness of this critical challenge.

Here in Egypt, we have partnered with USAID to encourage greater civic responsibility in maintaining water infrastructure and improving local water resources at the community level. We are engaged with local governments and communities on several projects in Gharbiya and Qena governorates to improve water quality, reduce water health hazards and increase water productivity. To date, more than 15,000 households and 80,000 rural residents have benefited from cleaner water and sanitation through improved wastewater disposal facilities and solid waste management. This is one example among many that the Coca-Cola system is implementing across the region to do its part to address the critical water challenge.

As the economic slow down spreads beyond the US and the housing market, what impact is this having on Coca-Cola?

Clearly there is a lot of volatility in the U.S. given the housing and credit market crisis, so we all must keep a close eye on the economy.

But one of the many reasons I believe we are in such a great business is that there remains incredible opportunity in the ready-to-drink nonalcoholic beverage marketplace. Our industry provides consumers with a vast array of products that meet a wide range of consumers’ need states, from simple fun and refreshment to hydration, nourishment and wellness.

However, if a protracted slowdown occurred, it is possible the U.S. market could see some shift away from super premium categories or products, but at its most basic, all of the sparkling and still categories of nonalcoholic beverages are not luxury products. They are what consumers want across a wide range of occasions and needs and that will continue to keep demand strong.

It is also important to note that emerging/most international markets have built stronger fundamentals, and should be more resilient, which benefits a business like ours that derives 80 percent of its profits outside the United States.

In which regions and products is Coca-Cola investing in order to continue growing in an increasingly crowded beverage market?

I won’t get in to specific investment opportunities, but we have a foundation in place, the transformation has begun and TCCC is now poised for accelerated, sustainable growth. But we have to be honest with ourselves that the transformation has only just begun. We’re only at the end of the beginning.

Transformation is what sustainable growth companies do -- they change -- continuously -- to anticipate, lead and meet marketplace change. You have to put sustainable communities at the heart of your business. Once you do that, you view your business in a different, more holistic manner. I feel really excited about our potential looking out over the next few years. Our strategies are working and we are capturing the highest value opportunities. As we do so, we are working to deliver long-term value for shareholders.

In what ways do you engage with the World Economic Forum, and what value do you think the Forum’s activities have in advancing multi-stakeholder responses or solutions to some of the challenges on the global agenda?

The economic, environmental and social challenges facing the world today are so complex that business must partner with governments, civil society and NGOs to achieve breakthrough innovation. The Coca-Cola Company strongly supports the World Economic Forum and its mission of improving the state of the world. Our company is engaged with the Forum to address a range of issues from promoting economic growth and sustainable development to helping communities deal with the major challenges they face, such as water sustainability and scarcity.

When society faces global challenges like water scarcity, we all need to come together to leverage our individual efforts. Business leaders have a critical role to play. Supporting the communities we serve is not just enlightened self-interest, it is quite literally self-interest. The Forum plays a unique role of helping to galvanize other partners from business, government, civil society and NGOs so that together we can make a difference on a global scale.