(L-R) Harvard professor Lawrence Summers, Doosan Group chairman Yongmaan Park and former British prime minister John Major.

Doosan Group, the parent company of forklift maker Doosan Industrial Vehicle, recently hosted the third Doosan Global Business Forum in Manchester, England. Noteworthy speakers included the former British prime minister, John Major.

Major assessed the global geopolitical risks that business leaders need to look out for.

Other prominent speakers at the 18 July event included Lawrence Summers, former US secretary of treasury and the current Charles W Eliot Professor at Harvard University; and Robert Shiller, the 2013 Nobel laureate for Economic Sciences and the professor of economics at Yale University.

"During the forum, we were able to understand the root causes behind the current geopolitical risks and their business implications, and confirmed that the global economy is gradually improving, while there are still risks we should be aware of," said Doosan Group chairman Yongmaan Park in his closing remarks. "We were also convinced that the tide of new technologies will accelerate. Our future completely depends on how we respond to the rapidly changing environment."

Fifty leading politicians, scholars and CEOs from around the world gathered to discuss the challenges facing the global economy at the forum, which was started to "make a breakthrough in business management by analysing the global business environment and forecasting the core trend of infrastructure industries".

The 2014 Doosan Global Business Forum was held alongside British golf tournament, The Open Championship (also sponsored by Doosan), which was held in Liverpool this year from 17-20 July.