World Economic Forum's (WEF) Davos meet: Things to know

The Times of India
Jan 18, 2018

The 48th annual meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, is scheduled for next week and will host its usual line-up of industry veterans, globe-trotting financiers and politicians across the globe.

The forum engages with the political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It was established in 1971 as a non-profitable foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

To be attended by over 3,000 global leaders, the five-day WEF meet will be held between January 22 and January 26.

What's on the agenda this year

*The theme of the meeting, spread over 400 sessions, would be 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World', while the meeting would also see the largest ever proportion of women leaders (21 per cent) including all co-chairs being women this time including social entrepreneur Chetna Sinha from India and IMF's Christine Lagarde, the WEF said.

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the opening plenary at the WEF's Davos summit, while the keynote address will be given by US President Donald Trump. This is PM Modi's first appearance at the WEF annual meet. Earlier, HD Deve Gowda attended the summit in 1997.

* The prime minister is expected to talk about his experience with 'cooperative federalism' in India, while urging the world for a collective crackdown on terrorism, economic imbalances, cyber threats and various societal ills. He may also talk about numerous steps taken by his government to make it easier to do business in India, check corruption, clamp down on black money, streamline taxation and boost sustainable growth.

How many Indian delegates are expected to arrive

* PM Modi will be accompanied by six union ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Ministers MJ Akbar and Jitendra Singh along with two chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra) and Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh).

* Over 100 CEOs are also expected to attend the meet and it would take India's total presence to 129 -- the fourth highest after the US (780), the UK (266) and Switzerland (233 people). China will have 118 participants.

* Women participants would account for 12 per cent of total Indian presence, compared to 27 per cent from the US, 24 per cent from the UK, 22 per cent from Germany, 20 per cent from Switzerland, 19 per cent for China and 18 per cent for France.

Globalisation or anti-globalisation

* Globalisation is a "double-edged sword" but cannot be blamed for the world's problems, Chinese President Xi Jinping had said in his last year's speech in the WEF summit and pushed for greater role for emerging economies in governance of global institutions.

* The WEF said that the meet in 2018 will focus on finding ways to reaffirm international cooperation on crucial shared interests, such as international security, the environment and the global economy.

* Alongside international cooperation, an additional priority of the meeting will be to overcome divisions within countries, said the WEF which describes itself as an international public-private organisation focussed on improving the state of the world.

* The WEF said divisions have often been caused by breakdowns in the social contract as a result of failure to protect societies from the transformational impacts of a succession of shocks, from globalisation to the proliferation of social media and the birth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Who else are expected to be a part of the meet

* This year a record number of leaders from G7 economies will participate. The summit will also be attended by 40 arts and culture leaders, including Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, Cate Blanchett and Elton John.

* One of the key issues to be discussed would be navigating a multipolar and multiconceptual world and the balance between global cooperation and local autonomy to prevent the disintegration of the world order.

Risk of political and economic confrontations?

* The risk of political and economic confrontations between major powers, including outright military conflicts, has risen sharply, according to a survey released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) days before its annual gathering in Davos.

The Global Risks Report highlighted several top risks for 2018, including environmental threats from extreme weather and temperatures, economic inequalities and cyber attacks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Joins Russia in Voting Against West-Backed Move to Expand Powers of OPCW

The Wire: June 28, 2018 New Delhi: India voted against a UK-backed move that will allow the global chemical weapons watchdog to apportion blame for illegal attacks, criticising the decision to grant “unchecked powers” to the head of the group which could be used for “partisan” purposes. On Wednesday, more than two-thirds of the member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voted to authorise the international body to identify the perpetrators and sponsors of a chemical weapons attack. It also specifically called on the OPCW’s technical secretariat to begin work on identifying the perpetrators behind the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The draft decision, sponsored by 30 countries, was adopted at the fourth special session of the conference of the states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention at the Hague, with 82 in favour and 24 negative votes. While Europe, the United States and their allies voted ‘yes’, there was strong oppo...
Read more

ED tracks Swiss Bank A/Cs of Agusta scamster

The Poineer February 10,2019 Rakesh K Singh The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tracked a dozen Swiss bank accounts in the name of Rajiv Saxena, who is key accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. The ED has also found out accounts held by  his family members and associates where the kickbacks in the now scrapped deal were allegedly parked. Two bank accounts are in the name of Rajiv Saxena’s  associates Pankaj Jain and Sumita Jain who are also the authorised signatories. The  third is in the name of another associate Ajit Singh Bubber, but Rajiv and his family members are authorised signatories. The remaining nine accounts are largely owned and operated by Rajiv, his family members and associates. Rajiv Saxena was deported by the UAE authorities on January 30 and the ED formally arrested him the next day and a court later granted his remand to the agency. He is currently undergoing custodial interrogation by the ED. The agency had in 2017...
Read more

As financial insecurity rises in urban India, so does investment in insurance

Image
Scroll.in March 13, 2020 Urban Indians are becoming less confident about their financial security. Up to 58% of them fret over financial independence post retirement, which is a 4% increase from last year. An equal share of urban Indians worry about meeting their daily medical expenses and sustaining their current lifestyle once they stop working. The findings are part of a survey published by Delhi-based Max Life Insurance in association with London-based consultancy Kantar. The firms surveyed 7,014 respondents in 25 cities, including six metros, nine tier-1 cities, and 10 tier-2 cities, between December 2019 and January 2020. Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz The trends Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz A significant share of urban Indians also say their families will have no financial support in the event of the breadwinner’s death. In such a scenario, around 57% believe the family sav...
Read more