When they meet this week in the upscale Swiss Alpine hamlet of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, more than 2700 world leaders will look for solutions to a number of global challenges.
52 head of states, prominent figures from business, finance, and culture, as well as activists and members of civil society from 130 nations, are present at this important event. There will be more than 5,000 Swiss army soldiers there to ensure security and prevent unruly protests.
The meeting’s subject for this year is collaboration in a fragmented society. Delegates will assemble in person once more following their three-year epidemic exile. They will discuss important political, economic, and social topics that need immediate action throughout the week.
The World Economic Forum’s founder and executive chairman, Klaus Schwab, claims that this one-on-one communication will foster the level of trust required to unite people.
“One of the root causes of this fragmentation is actually a lack of cooperation. This in turn increases fragmentation in society and leads even more to short-term and self-serving policy making. It is a truly vicious circle,” he said.
According to Schwab, it’s imperative to halt the decline in trust between the public and private sectors. According to him, circumstances for a powerful and long-lasting recovery must be established.
Leaders from around the world will be urged to collaborate on interrelated concerns including energy, climate change, and wildlife, according to the forum’s managing director, Mirak Dusek. He claims that the focus will be on the economy and society.
“On the economy, we are going to be putting a lot of emphasis on infrastructure. Particularly on how we make sure that the investments around infrastructure, particularly clean infrastructure — how do we make sure that this leads to new growth, growth that is more inclusive and makes us more resilient in the future…Of course, we will also be looking at social vulnerability that are stemming from these crises,” he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres are among the dignitaries present at the meeting. President of the United States Joe Biden won’t be attending Davos. John Kerry, the United States’ Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, will be attending.
A significant Ukrainian delegation is anticipated to visit Davos. Their names are being withheld, according to forum officials, for security reasons. According to various sessions will be held, they say several sessions relating to the Ukrainian conflict. Russia is not anticipated to attend, they add.