Its that time of the year again. Switzerland’s unique snow-clad city of Davos is welcoming global leaders for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
This year’s event comes on the heels of a super election year that saw incumbents in many countries ousted or lose vote share as voters, battling high prices and bleak economic prospects, increasingly turned to radical parties and candidates. Supported.
The populist surge, as well as the war in Ukraine and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the alarming regularity of extreme weather events, and the unfolding artificial intelligence (AI) revolution are some of the key issues that delegates will focus on during the fifth day. meeting.
“This is happening against the most complex geopolitical backdrop in generations,” WEF President Borge Brende told reporters on Tuesday.
About 3,000 leaders, including 60 heads of state and government from more than 130 countries, are expected to arrive in the Swiss Alpine city. Global leaders attending the meeting include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, Argentina’s Javier Meili, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus.
Donald Trump will dominate the discussion
Donald Trump will address the gathering virtually, just days after his inauguration as US President on January 20.
Trump’s return to the White House is expected to dominate the discussion at Davos. From threatening tariffs on friends and foes alike to displaying expansionist ambitions toward Canada and Greenland, Trump has kept investors, companies and governments guessing.
Policymakers and investors are still trying to figure out how Trump’s trade wars will unfold and how they will affect the economy. The potential tariffs are expected to further hurt economies like Germany and China, which are already struggling with negative and slow growth, respectively.
Experts warned that Trump’s sweeping proposals, which go far beyond those implemented by his previous administration, would drive up prices and trigger retaliation from trade partners, causing a global shock.
Brende said, “If you look at the experience during the first Trump administration, trade increased, investment increased.” “But now there is a different scenario where we may see more tariffs, we may see more nearshoring, friendshoring, so the supply chain will change, but as long as we see trade growth and global growth, you can look at it as a glass half You can see it empty or half full.”
Ukraine, Gaza and Syria in focus
Russia’s war in Ukraine, now reaching its three-year milestone, is once again one of the major topics on the agenda. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will personally attend the meeting.
Trump promised during the campaign to reach a peace deal to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict on his first day in office, a timeline that seems unrealistic. Even Trump’s advisers are considering a timeline of months to end the war.
Ukraine’s Viktor Pinchuk Foundation will host a number of events at Ukraine House this year, including the “Your Country First – Win with Us” project.
“Because if Ukraine falls, the dangers will increasingly confront you. Your security will be damaged, your economy, well-being and chance to live the life you want will be jeopardized,” the foundation said in a statement. “While Ukraine prevails and deters aggressors globally.”
State-based armed conflict is the top risk in 2025, according to An annual risk survey published by the WEF On Wednesday, a third threat, along with geo-economic confrontation, revealed an “increasingly fragmented global landscape.”
The humanitarian situation in Syria, Gaza and the potential escalation of conflict in the Middle East are also in focus this year. Several leaders from the region are expected to visit, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shibani.
‘Intelligent Age’
The 55th WEF Annual Meeting is being held under the theme “Cooperation for an Intelligent Age” – an era that is seeing rapid advances in technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
AI is already showing great promise in many industries, including health care, education and agriculture, but it also threatens to make millions of jobs redundant.
A WEF report on the future of jobs published earlier this month said that changes in global trends and new technologies are projected to create 170 million new jobs by 2030, while displacing another 92 million – a huge increase globally. Underlines the need to upskill workers.
US tech firm Workday, in a study on the impact of AI on jobs, found that AI will be the catalyst for a “skills revolution” in which essentially human skills such as creativity, empathy and ethical decision-making will become the most valuable assets. workplace.
Cathy Pham, computer scientist and vice president of Workday, says DeVos will provide a platform for businesses and governments to understand how jobs, skills and regulations have evolved over time in different parts of the world and how people interact with technology. We do.
“For me it’s a wish list of things to come from Davos. A candid conversation about what the future of the workforce will be like with this latest wave of AI,” he told DW.
Edited by: Uwe Hessler