Rob Shelton, Lead for Innovation from PwC, kicked off the event with an encouraging speech on the fundamental need for technology to drive improvements in our society.

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The Chamber of Mines, which represents the country's biggest mining companies, said the speech was "positive and encouraging".

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The speech and a bit of somewhat encouraging U.S. economic data released Monday has at least temporarily put some investor risk appetite back into the market place.

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And how you respond to each other is going to be probably as important as any speech that a President makes in encouraging the kinds of religious tolerance that I think is so necessary in a world that's getting smaller and smaller, where more and more people of different backgrounds, different races, different ethnicities are interacting and working and learning from each other.

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The Queen's Speech included a number of bills aimed at encouraging growth such as the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill and the Small Donations Bill.

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Ironically, on May 20th, Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor, gave a speech in which he said that he wanted Britain to play a much bigger role in liberalising the European economy and encouraging competition.

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