CNN is the exclusive international media sponsor for the leadership summits - including Leaders in Dubai 2005

CNN International has signed as the exclusive international media partner for the Leaders In Dubai, Scandinavia (Copenhagen), Moscow, London, Sydney, and Europe (Munich), which between them will attract a speaker line-up including Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Lou Gerstner, Jack Welch and Scott Bedbury, the brand architect behind Nike and Starbucks. The summits are expected to be attended by 10,000 of the global community's top executives from around 30 countries.

Leaders in Dubai Summit 2005, which takes place on November 29 and 29, 2005 at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai features speakers Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Madeline Allbright, Dr Mahathir bin Mohamed and Kenichi Ohmae.

"When the world's leaders have something to say, they say it on CNN, and associating with the premiere event about leadership and vision reinforces our standing in this area - it's a perfect proposition for us," commented Kevin Razvi, Executive Vice President CNN International Ad Sales. "There's a natural relationship between the summits' participants and our viewers: their audience is our audience. It could not be a better fit for us."

The co-operation has been expanded following from the success last year of the CNN sponsorship of the Leaders in Dubai and London events and represents one of the most significant sponsorships for CNN this year.

'We are delighted to be working on a global level with CNN on our 2005 Leadership Summit series," said Tina Schneidermann, CEO of the summit organizers LEADING MINDS. "The global spread of world business coverage on CNN means its audience fits in well with the range and type of leader that attend our Leadership Summit series.

"As outstanding leadership becomes more important than ever, we're delighted to work with CNN to bring such a timely and high level event to so many regions of the world. As Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence puts it: 'These are absurdly turbulent times. Never has effective, inspiring, adaptive leadership been more important - from the top to the bottom of the organisation. Moreover, I believe that great leadership is not born, but mostly the product of practice and intense study.' "

CNN will have branding on all literature, and throughout the events in a number of locations, including plasma screens airing CNN inside the reception halls. Some of the sessions will be moderated by CNN's top international presenters.

An advertising campaign for the Leaders summits, airing on CNN International and on CNN.com as the summits' exclusive international advertising platform, marks the first time for the full complement of summits to air to an international audience. The television spots run in highly targeted time-specific placements to reach the optimum audience for each event, and the online ads are also geo-targeted.

The events each promise two days of insight, motivation and ideas from the visionary leaders of today who will share their views on the significant issues of tomorrow through a series of speeches, private meetings and networking forums.