The 55th World Economic Forum in Davos (WEF) starts on Monday. The annual meeting of political and business leaders will be held under the slogan “Cooperation in the Smart Age”. The meeting and more behind-the-scenes discussions will be dominated by the topic of Donald Trump's presidency, as well as artificial intelligence.
As usual, the most important will be dialogue and even intimate conversations outside the official program – the organizers of this year's summit emphasize on the Forum's website.
Trump will dominate the discussions
350 political leaders, including 60 heads of state and government, as well as nearly 3,000 people announced their participation in the meeting. political leaders from over 130 countries and over 900 company heads. The Swiss resort will be visited by, among others, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and the Deputy Prime Minister China Ding Xuexiang, as well as the president Israel Yitzhak Herzog and Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa.
The president will be from Poland Andrzej Duda.
The start of the summit in Davos falls on the day of the president's swearing-in USA Donald Trumpwho will talk to Forum participants via video link. As AFP comments, Trump and his policies will monopolize a significant part of the proceedings and informal discussions. WEF chief Borge Brende said Davos guests were very interested in being able to “decipher and understand the policies of the new (US) administration, so it will be a very interesting week.”
Brende added that the American president intends to intensively engage in the talks of the leaders participating in the Forum at the end of the summit, which will last until January 24.
International organizations will be represented, among others, by the Secretary General NATO Mark RutteSecretary General UN Antonio Guterres, head of the International Monetary Fund Krystalina Georgieva, director general of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
A speech by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zalensky, is scheduled for Tuesday. Russia's war against Ukraine was already the dominant topic during previous meetings in Davos.
Artificial intelligence will be an important topic
According to official WEF announcements, Forum participants will devote much attention to the development opportunities offered by artificial intelligence (AI), but also to the difficult consequences of its expansion, such as job losses, the need to retrain millions of employees, changes in education and social security systems.
It is necessary to develop thinking about artificial intelligence and automation in geopolitical terms – emphasize the Forum organizers.
However, Josh Lipsky, director of the Atlantic Council think tank on the global economy, told AFP: “The most important event for the global economy will undoubtedly take place this week in Washington, not in Davos (…). It's not about (Trump's) inauguration itself. , but about his decrees that we expect from the first day (of the presidency), including on customs tariffs.”
Humorous reports from Davos
The Financial Times recalled the historical and humorous accounts from Davos of the daily's main commentator on foreign affairs, Gideon Rachman, who was once most surprised by the organizers' idea of ​​discussing climate change between former Israeli president Shimon Peres and supermodel Claudia Schiffer.
Rachman assessed much better the fact that “there are many billionaires for whom it is not a problem” to offer bottles of “distinguished wines” in Davos, such as Chateau Yquem for 1,845 euros, as part of tastings combined with informal discussions.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/MICHAEL BUHOLZER