Vision: A world where peripheral regions are more substantially acknowledged as integral to shaping the changing face of the global economy.

Mission: To build dialogue and create collaboration between business leaders and stakeholder representatives to transcend cultural boundaries and stimulate new approaches.

Values: Integrity, Transparency, Mutual Respect, and Collaboration.

Rationale
During recent decades economic globalisation has undoubtedly introduced immense change in terms of investment, development, communication and wealth creation.  A lamentable by-product of this process however, has been the exploitation and increased marginalisation of what have been termed peripheral regions of the world.  It is largely the recent global financial crisis which has obliged the centre to re-evaluate the role of peripheral regions as co-producers of global policy; not just in the economic sphere, but in promoting, preserving and advancing cultural development and in addressing social inclusion, education, healthcare and the environment.

Fully achieving this shift in perception and policy however, is rendered all the more challenging by the deeply ingrained historical perceptions of developing countries as being at the periphery of global economic architecture and governance.  Cultural differences have served as barriers, and have been a source of suspicion, distrust and systematic diminution rather than their being perceived as the basis of stimulating, innovative and productive collaboration.  Zamyn is founded on a philosophy which calls into question the notion of peripheral cultures or regions.  The richness and variety of these regions in cultural, social and often economic terms, renders their designation as third world or peripheral highly questionable and potentially inappropriate in the twenty first century.

The imposing of parameters that compartmentalise sections of our world has become increasingly difficult.  Such divisions variously made on the basis of wealth and poverty or religious ideologies, political affiliations, cultural heritage or geography no longer coincide with each other.  Furthermore, political agendas are always deeply influenced by commercial considerations, and multi-national corporations and financial institutions are as influential as politicians when it comes to manipulating, adjusting and relocating global commodities and power.  The unconscious toxicity in this scenario may involve a fear of conceding their rightful status and hence a persistent symptomatic insistence on maintaining the notion of sub-standard peripheries.

Zamyn believes that corporations are well positioned to reflect on their unique role as ‘agents’ of economies and cultures in a way which allows a multi-layered consideration of these developments of globalisation.  Over the past decade or so, business has indeed been much more actively involved with government and civil society – through initiatives such as the UN Global Compact - in addressing issues such as sustainable development, climate change, corruption and human rights. Whilst such interaction does not constitute promotion of developing regions of the world – but rather ‘making conscious’ the fact that they already possess the credentials that warrant a new status - it  nonetheless facilitate the mobilisation of unique dynamics, beyond the scope of governments, with extraordinary potential to revitalise mutual respect and recognition and fuel unprecedented, productive collaboration.

Zamyn aims to contribute to the development of this understanding by building dialogue and stimulating collaboration.  If we can succeed in helping to create accepted alternative perceptions of a world divided between “centre” and “periphery”, we will have got some way towards realizing our vision.