Today business and government leaders gathered for the annual WEF meeting. The meeting will take place from January 16-20th in the resort town of Davos, Switzerland. The four days will cover a wide spectrum of formats for interaction and learning, giving leaders the necessary tools to address the current complexity and build for the future. This year’s theme is ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World,’ a nod to the post pandemic shifts in global markets and political relationships .
The WEF traditionally engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.
Delegates, some with sought-after white badges which given greater access, attend panels and speeches inside the Congress Centre from Tuesday through to Friday. Much of the action, however, occurs outside. Bilateral meetings between heads of state and corporate chieftains take up much of their schedules. More than 600 CEOs will be in attendance, including Wall Street executives such as JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, David Solomon from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman. With climate change top of the agenda, chiefs of major energy companies are back after a COVID-related hiatus.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the presidents of Spain, South Korea, Poland and the Philippines are among 51 heads of state present. Another 56 finance ministers, 19 central bank governors, 30 trade ministers and 35 foreign ministers are also due to make the journey up into the mountains.
Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, wil.i.am and social media star Nas Daly are all attending.
The Russians are absent, but Ukraine, which dominated last year’s summit, has another high level delegation and several war-related sessions are on the agenda.
Others include IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He.
World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and central bankers such as India’s Raghuram Rajan are also on the list.
