The viscount Etienne Davignon, president of the Bilderberg group, has visited Romania to attend a conference by the Romanian Association for the Rome Club, on the 20-year anniversary of the local association.

During his visit to Romania, Davignon met several Romanians, including investor Liviu Tudor, the owner of the West Gate office compound, and secretary general of the Romanian Association for the Rome Club (both in picture below).

The Bilderberg chairman also was also received by Romanian president Traian Basescu at Cotroceni on Thursday morning (October 17; both in opening picture), a meeting which was followed by one with the Romanian Central Bank governor Mugur Isarescu.

Viscount Davignon is a Belgian politician, businessman, and former vice-president of the European Commission.

Aged 81, the viscount heads a group which is dubbed the Shadow Government, an informal group which gathers country officials, business people and influential politicians who meet yearly to debate timely topics.

About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields.

The conference is a forum for informal, off-the-record discussions about megatrends and the major issues facing the world.

There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.

The 61st Bilderberg meeting will take place at the beginning of June 2013 in the UK.

Founded in 1954, Bilderberg is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America.

editor@romania-insider.com