The Creation and Development History of Global Development Alliance

100%NEWS — BUSINESS & GROWTH

Serena Ashbourne in conversation with Andrew Azarov

SERENA ASHBOURNE:
Welcome to 100%NEWS — Business & Growth.
Today we are speaking about a business story that did not begin as a single company, a single brand, or a single project.

It began as a sequence of entrepreneurial decisions, built over more than three decades, across trade, finance, real estate, media, education, events, franchising, investment, digital platforms and artificial intelligence.

My guest today is Andrew Azarov, one of the founders and architects behind Global Development Alliance, known as GDA — an international ecosystem for the development of individuals, families, businesses and society.

Andrew, welcome to 100%NEWS.

ANDREW AZAROV:
Thank you, Serena.
It is a pleasure to be here.

For me, GDA is not just a corporate structure. It is the result of many years of practical experience. It is the story of how different business directions, educational projects, media platforms, public initiatives and international events gradually became one interconnected development ecosystem.

The Foundation: Trade and Practical Experience

World Woman Club celebrates 20 Years

On March 1, 2026, World Woman Club opened the anniversary season of its 20th jubilee — a journey that began in 2006 and, according to the club’s official materials, was formally registered on March 1, 2007. This jubilee year is envisioned not as a single evening or one ceremonial event, but as an entire international season of recognition, remembrance, and a renewed vision for the future.

The summer culmination of the celebrations will take place in Davos as part of the World Woman Forum 2026, with a gala celebration on July 12, marking the high point of this historic year.

Over twenty years, World Woman Club has grown from the idea of uniting strong and ambitious women into a full-fledged international ecosystem. The club defines its mission as bringing together women leaders and women’s organizations from around the world into one multilingual global network for real progress, business cooperation, and global development. What began as a bold initiative has evolved into a respected international platform that connects women across countries, cultures, industries, and generations.

Global Mentoring Programme 2026 announced the intake in 200 countries

How the Global Women’s Mentoring Program Emerged

From the Vital Voices initiative (1997–1999) to U.S. Department of State support and a worldwide network

Global mentoring for women did not appear overnight. It grew out of a public-policy idea in the late 1990s, evolved into an independent international organization, and later expanded through public–private partnerships that connected women leaders across countries and industries. Below is a clear narrative of how this global mentoring model formed—along with the people and formats that helped it scale.

1) The origins: a U.S. State Department initiative (1997)

In 1997, the U.S. Department of State launched the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative. It is often described as an effort to make the promotion of women’s rights and women’s leadership part of U.S. foreign policy. In Vital Voices sources, this early stage is linked to the roles of Hillary Rodham Clinton (then First Lady) and Madeleine Albright (then U.S. Secretary of State).

Secrets of Swiss Business

Switzerland succeeds in business not because it is mysterious, but because it is systemically reliable. Its model combines political neutrality, legal predictability, decentralized federalism, a hard-currency tradition, and extreme specialization in high-value sectors. Basel matters because it is not only a Swiss city: it is one of the world’s rule-making capitals for finance, home to the BIS and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Zurich matters because it concentrates banking, insurance and asset management. Geneva matters because diplomacy and commodities trading intersect there. And the wider Swiss economy matters because it still manufactures globally valuable things—drugs, instruments, engineering systems, watches, diagnostics, specialty chemicals—at a scale few rich service economies still manage. 

That is why “Swiss business” is best understood as an operating system rather than a collection of isolated firms. The services economy is enormous, but manufacturing remains unusually strong for an advanced economy. SMEs dominate by number, while large multinational groups dominate many internationally tradable niches. The country’s external posture—neutral, stable, treaty-rich, and diplomatically active—reduces political risk for capital. Yet the old stereotype of Switzerland as a secrecy haven is badly outdated: bank-client confidentiality still exists as a legal duty, but foreign tax opacity has been steadily dismantled through AEOI/CRS, FATCA arrangements, and tighter AML enforcement. In other words, modern Switzerland sells trust, compliance and quality more than silence. 

Top 20 Best Countries for Business Development by 2035

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By Andrii Azarov (Andrew Azarov) — Professor of Business, Economics, and the Applied Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Development of Business Process Automation Software Systems. International Business Academy Consortium (United Kingdom).

Introduction

By 2035, the best country for business development will not necessarily be the country with the lowest tax rate or the fastest incorporation form. It will be the country where business can be built, financed, protected, scaled and lived around.

This means the serious founder must now ask a wider question: not merely where to register a company, but where to create a durable economic life. A truly strong jurisdiction must combine legal predictability, workable taxation, credible institutions, practical infrastructure, decent family living conditions, educational opportunity for children, acceptable healthcare, and enough economic headroom for the entrepreneur not only to survive, but to accumulate capital.

That is why this article does not offer a shallow “top list”. It offers a strategic view of 20 jurisdictions that, for different reasons, may remain among the strongest places in the world for business development by 2035. The world economy is entering a more selective era of capital, more geopolitical fragmentation, more AI-led productivity gaps, and more competition between tax systems, talent systems and quality-of-life systems. Countries that align all three — money, institutions and family life — will win the next decade.

MINIBOSS STARTUP CAMP 2026: Why Such Camps Are Important for Neurophysiology

Why Entrepreneurial Summer Camps Matter for a Child’s Brain, Character and Future

Every parent wants their child to grow into a confident, intelligent, emotionally strong and future-ready person. But in the 21st century, this cannot be achieved through academic knowledge alone. Children need environments that develop not only memory and school performance, but also the brain systems responsible for decision-making, self-control, communication, creativity, motivation, leadership and adaptive thinking.

This is the mission of MINIBOSS STARTUP CAMP 2026 — an inspiring in-person summer programme for kids and teenagers aged 6–17, created to develop entrepreneurial thinking, financial literacy, leadership, creativity, communication skills, teamwork and self-confidence.

The camp is designed for international locations including Glasgow, Davos, Odesa, Taipei, Baku, Almaty, Ashgabat, Brisbane, Erbil, Dubai, and other cities.