The chief procurement officer of Microsoft is one of the keynote speakers at the 2010 Procurement Leaders Forum to be held in North America.

Tim McBride, CPO of the Redmond-based software giant, will be joined by Frank Crespo, VP and chief procurement officer of Honeywell, in delivering keynote presentations to an audience of senior US purchasing, sourcing and supply chain executives. Delegate passes will be allocated on an invitation only basis.

The Forum, which will be held on 24 March 2010 at River East Art Center, Chicago, is being supported by some of the most prestigious consulting firms in procurement, with Accenture, CapGemini and BrainNet all sponsoring the event.

“North America is an extremely important market for us and it was imperative that we got the timing and approach right,” said Alex Martinez, managing director, publishing at Sigaria. “Following the widespread success of the PLN in Europe, we have conducted extensive research with US based CPO's this year and feel that March is perfect timing for our first major conference in the region. With the global economy recovering it offers the perfect opportunity for procurement executives to step back and think about the long term again.”