World Economic Forum calls for recreating a win-win world as annual Davos meet ends

PTI

Davos, May 26

The World Economic Forum on Thursday called for recreating a win-win world as its Annual Meeting 2022 in this Swiss ski resort town ended with the war in Ukraine, energy and food crises, climate change and changing nature of globalisation hogging the limelight in discussions of over 2,500 global leaders over five days.

Convened under the theme ‘History at a Turning Point: Government Policies and Business Strategies’, the Annual Meeting 2022 hosted nearly 450 sessions with global leaders from business, government and civil society.

The meeting took place physically after two-and-half years as the 2021 annual meeting had to be cancelled and the 2022 summit got postponed from the regular month of January due to the Covid-19-related restrictions.

“We are better off in a world where we meet and act together, than in a world where everyone is for oneself. We should recreate a win-win world, not (where we) beggar thy neighbour, prosper thy neighbour,” WEF President Borge Brende said in the closing session.

For over 50 years, the World Economic Forum (WEF), which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation, has been hosting the annual congregation of world leaders to accelerate the partnerships needed to tackle global challenges and shape a more sustainable and inclusive future.

The Forum saw panellists in several sessions talking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked the international community for their support—but called for more. Voices from the Ukrainian society, in addition to several MPs, were also heard.

Global leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russia cannot be allowed to win this war, while several European leaders called for continued unity.

Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, said his country was ready to help in finding a peaceful solution to the war.

Leaders also talked about debt, inflation, wages, trade and global economy.

Food and energy security and crises linked to the war in Ukraine were also high on the agenda.