UPS CEO ASSURES THAT MARKETS WILL MOVE FORWARD
Jim Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of UPS, said Thursday that corporate leaders must press on despite the lagging economy, and that the recent terrorist attacks will not forward movement of commerce.
“Lifeblood of the civilized world is commerce — the natural thing that free people do. We have a deep and even moral obligation to keep global commerce moving forward,” he told the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.
Kelly said that while the human costs of the tragedies go far beyond numbers, the proper response is not to pull back in fear or suggest that globalization is now threatened.
The UPS leader added that many in the business world appreciated the irony of the terrorism aftermath. “Their acts on Sept. 11 were meant to derail globalization,” he said. “But in effect they (the acts) should guarantee it by enlisting the most potent economic engine on earth — the free market — to help shape it with new forethought, intent and resolve.”