
"We will make sure that we bring together the right people ... to see how we can solve this very challenging world".

Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan would both attend, organizers said, making them the highest profile members of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration in Davos.

A White House official said Sullivan was expected to make a speech and that Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, would also attend. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Blinken and Sullivan will join key stakeholders in the conflict in Gaza, including leaders of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - both countries having emerged as Middle East powerbrokers - and Israel's president Isaac Herzog in Davos.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and more than 40 foreign ministers will also be on site, organizers said.

Macron is expected to make a speech about France's role in the future of Europe, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also address the forum, organizers said. The Elysee French presidential palace did not immediately comment.

War in Ukraine has dominated the last two WEF meetings and while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is again expected to make a speech, it was unclear if any Russian officials would attend.

China, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin will be sending 【97†Premier Li Qiang】, the most senior Chinese official to rub shoulders with global business and political leaders at Davos since President Xi Jinping attended in 2017.

WEF organizers also emphasized the attendance of key leaders from the Global South. The non-aligned group of Asian African and Latin American countries have largely stuck to the sidelines over the Ukraine war, after initially condemning Moscow.

Geopolitical risks have mounted around the globe in recent years, with 【98†Russia's war in Ukraine】 and 【10†Israel's war with Hamas militants】, and the recent related impact on shipping in the Red Sea. China, meanwhile, 【99†has been increasing military pressure to assert sovereignty claims over Taiwan】.

"Unfortunately, what the last couple of years has shown us with the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and several other crises around the world is that we were not that resilient," said Bob Sternfels, Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, referring to global cooperation in a briefing ahead of Davos.

"Without resilience, we can have real setbacks."

## 'COMPLICATED'

A complicated economic backdrop, including central bank policy and increasing debt, would also dominate the agenda, WEF managing director Jeremy Jurgens said.

"We are expecting 2.9% growth this year and at least the global economy is growing, but it could be doing better."

Jurgens said that the two regions that stood out for increased participation this year were Latin America and Asia, reflecting "broader shifts in the global economy".

Argentina's newly-elected President Javier Milei is expected to attend.

A WEF official said 530 banking, insurance, investing and other finance executives are expected at the meeting.

One key event is the Jan. 17 closed-door Financial Services Governors Meeting, which will be attended by more than 100 chairmen and CEOs from banking, markets, insurance and asset management, an agenda obtained by Reuters showed.

Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan and Manulife CEO Roy Gori will be co-chairs of the meeting, which will focus on navigating risk against a backdrop of geopolitical tension, macroeconomic uncertainty and technological disruption.

WEF organizers did not comment on the Governors Meeting.

Davos comes as companies face a complex backdrop of mediocre global growth while economies grapple with high interest rates, political risk and the after-effects of the pandemic.

"With matters such as ongoing geopolitical tensions, the urgent need to address climate change, economic concerns and rapid technological advancements influencing policy and boardroom decisions, this summit will be pivotal," Deloitte Global Chair Anna Marks said in emailed comments.

To some, 2024 shows a return to focusing on the long-term.

Karen Harris, Managing Director of the Macro Trends Group at Bain & Company said recent WEF annual meetings were shaped by the pandemic, with 2021's being virtual 【100†and 2022's delayed , opens new tab†www.weforum.org】.

"At 2023's Forum we were still feeling the disruptions of all of those events, and discussion was centered on the economic recovery," Harris said in emailed remarks.

"This is the first WEF in years during which our sights can really be on what the next decade will bring, rather than the compressed and volatile business cycle."

Reporting by Leela de Kretser and Megan Davies in New York; Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov in London, David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland in Washington and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris; Editing by Alexander Smith 

Our Standards: 【101†The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab†www.thomsonreuters.com】

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【94† Acquire Licensing Rights†www.reutersagency.com】

[Image 2]

【93†Leela de Kretser】

Thomson Reuters 

Leela de Kretser is the global breaking news editor at Reuters and manages coverage for major events and stories around the world. She is also the executive producer of the Reuters World News podcast.

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[Image 3: A man watches a news channel on television inside a shop after the Pakistani foreign ministry said the country conducted strikes inside Iran targeting separatist militants, in Peshawar]

ANALYSIS【102†Iran-Pakistan flare-up rooted in restive borderlands, not Mideast strife】January 18, 2024

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[Image 4: An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base]

【14†United States

Davos 2024: Global elite gather against WEF's most complex backdrop so far | Reuters


High-level attendees at the annual gathering have thinned in recent years with key names like US President Joe Biden missing. In 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the only leader of a G7 country who attended.

“Leaders do not lose interest in forums such as the WEF, but they do make strategic decisions about whether it would be beneficial to attend the meeting each year,” Peter Willetts, emeritus professor of global politics at City, University of London, said.

“Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to rally support for Ukraine, which will probably mean the Russians will send a low-level political delegation.”

Willetts added that the US is expected to send a delegation comprising Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry – President Joe Biden’s top negotiator on climate change.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani are also expected to attend.

[Image 1: INTERACTIVE What is the World Economic Forum-1705299646]

## Creating communities

Despite not offering firm solutions to problems, Davos can still be viewed as an opportunity to mitigate factors leading to global conflict, experts say.

“The WEF’s approach to addressing issues is guided by … ‘multi-stakeholder governance’, which means that the world’s problems are best tackled by the diverse stakeholders that are impacted by them,” Jack Copley, assistant professor in international political economy at Durham University, told Al Jazeera.

The basis of the WEF’s activity is therefore providing an arena for liaison and discussion between some of the world’s most important decision-makers.

“The WEF has certainly been a major force promoting ideas of public-private partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration in response to global challenges,” Jan Aart Scholte, professor of global transformations and governance challenges at Leiden University, told Al Jazeera.

The real value of the event lies in this focus on networking and the accumulation of knowledge, which it has helped facilitate, albeit perhaps not to the standards it often claims.

“Like all political forums, the World Economic [Forum] states its goals in overoptimistic, general terms,” Willetts noted. “That said, it has been a useful forum for some global leaders to have … informal, one-to-one discussions outside the meetings.

“What has also been useful is the diversity of the people who attend – from leading national politicians and UN officials to business leaders and the staff of major non-governmental organisations.”

## On the Davos agenda

According to the WEF’s Global Risks Report for 2024, disinformation and misinformation pose the greatest threat to the world over the next two years. In second and third place: extreme weather events and the political polarisation of society.

A primary factor contributing to disinformation is artificial intelligence (AI), which can produce convincing disinformation at lightning speed.

So far, global solutions to this challenge have been scarce. The European Union has a provisional deal on regulating AI, but global regulation does not exist.

“It is obviously crucial to assess and address the consequences of AI,” Scholte noted. “However, whether the WEF has something distinctive to contribute – and how well it communicates and cooperates with other initiatives in this area – remains to be seen.”

Scholte feels this year’s WEF might be missing the mark by not posing creative questions on its agenda.

“One could have posed matters in a more challenging manner: for example, in terms of building peace rather than achieving security; debating the concept of growth rather than taking its desirability for granted; looking beyond climate policy to larger debates about the ecological viability of the prevailing world order.”

A weakening global economy, inflation and potential recession will be major worries in 2024 and are linked to wider issues.

“There are threats to global production and commerce from war – from the economic fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the regional ramifications of Israel’s destruction of Gaza. There is the ongoing battle against inflationary pressures … in recent years. Central banks have sought to use monetary policy tightening to contain inflation without causing … such economic pain as to produce political unrest,” Copley noted.

He went on to explain that slowing growth and economic stagnation in China and the world as a whole will also have their impact, as will the increasing climate disasters which disrupt economic activity.

## Missing the mark

Some critics have never believed that the WEF is making the world a better place – even if it likes to claim that for itself.

“The WEF and other multi-stakeholder endeavours have democratic deficits when the people that they affect do not have adequate opportunities to participate in and control their processes,” Scholte said.

“It is an exclusive invitation-only club, and meaningful participation is mainly limited to the world’s more powerful governments, corporations, and civil society actors. Moreover, when excluded people disagree with or feel harmed by WEF activities, they generally lack adequate channels to be heard and pursue redress.”

This status quo, and the idea that a “global elite” is making decisions for the common man, has been fodder for various observers.

“Some of the criticisms levelled against the WEF have been quite fantastical, such as claims that the WEF is part of a global cabal that runs world affairs,” Copley said. “These conspiracies seem to have gained momentum in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Throughout WEF this week, there will certainly be discussion around its relevance and legacy.

“Whether the WEF has been successful in its current iteration depends on how you interpret its goals,” Copley noted. “It has certainly succeeded in gathering a range of corporate and political elites from different parts of the world to discuss pressing topics in luxurious surroundings, and it has produced a variety of reports and public-private initiatives. Some of these initiatives have had concrete effects on real-world issues, like its vaccination campaign

Is the World Economic Forum still relevant? | Business and Economy News | Al Jazeera

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# 'Precarious' year ahead for world economy, Davos survey predicts 

Reuters 

January 15, 2024 9:45 AM UTC Updated ago

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Jan 15 (Reuters) - The global economy faces a year of subdued growth prospects and uncertainty stemming from geopolitical strife, tight financing conditions and the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence, a survey of top economists released on Monday found.

Conducted each year ahead of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos, the survey of 60-plus chief economists drawn globally from the private and public sectors attempts to sketch priorities for policymakers and business leaders.

Some 56% of those surveyed expect overall global economic conditions to weaken this year, with a high degree of regional divergence. While majorities saw moderate or stronger growth in China and the United States, there was broad consensus that Europe would muster only weak or very weak growth.

The outlook for South Asia and East Asia and Pacific was more positive, with very high majorities expecting at least moderate growth in 2024.

[Image 0: Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos]

Staff prepare the Congress Center ahead of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 13, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse 【92† Acquire Licensing Rights , opens new tab†www.reutersagency.com】

Reflecting commentary from the world's top central banks suggesting that interest rates have peaked, a full 70% of those surveyed nonetheless expected financial conditions to loosen as inflation ebbs and current tightness in labour markets eases.

Artificial intelligence was seen making an unequal mark on the world economy: while 94% expected AI to significantly boost productivity in high-income economies over the next five years, just 53% predicted the same for low-income economies.

Separately, the WEF released a study on the "quality" of economic growth across 107 economies that concluded that most countries are growing in ways that are neither environmentally sustainable nor socially inclusive.

"Reigniting global growth will be essential to addressing key challenges, yet growth alone is not enough," said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.

The WEF said it was launching a campaign to define a new approach to growth and help policy-makers balance it with social, environmental and other priorities.

Writing and reporting by Mark John; Editing by Alexander Smith 

Our Standards: 【93†The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab†www.thomsonreuters.com】

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【36†Currencies category】【99†Japan's finance minister: Watching currency moves carefully】2:53 AM UTC · Updated ago

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'Precarious' year ahead for world economy, Davos survey predicts | Reuters

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