The World Economic Forum will hold its annual gathering in the Alps next week, and organizers announced Tuesday that 52 leaders of state and government and close to 600 CEOs will attend.
The elite gathering of political leaders, cultural trend-setters, business executives, and heads of international organizations will discuss issues facing a divided world as 2023 gets underway, with war and conflict, climate change, and economic pressures in focus, according to the forum’s organizers’ most recent lineup.
According to forum president Borge Brende, “the 53rd annual meeting in Davos will take place against the most complicated geopolitical and economic backdrop in decades. He cited issues like the potential for a global recession, skyrocketing energy and food prices, and the need to do more to combat global warming.”
The global economy has been weakened by Russia’s almost one-year-long conflict in Ukraine, COVID-19 limitations, and most recently, a surge of illnesses in China.
The “record involvement” of 52 heads of state and government, including Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea, Gustavo Petro of Colombia, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, as well as more than half of them being from Europe, was cited by Brende. It was anticipated that up to 300 government ministers will attend.
The forum’s president claimed that certain delegations had requested, for security purposes, that the names of its participants “not be shared” right away. For instance, Brende mentioned that unnamed “high-level” delegations from China and Ukraine will be present.
Officials from the Biden administration, such as presidential climate envoy John Kerry, director of national intelligence Avril Haines, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, as well as a number of governors and legislative politicians, will be present to represent the United States.
The gathering features a smorgasbord of topics discussed in countless open sessions in addition to more covert backroom negotiations by business executives in the posh hotels along Davos’ Promenade, close to the conference center where the event is held.
The schedule is packed with debates about new concepts, technological advancements, and the search for public-private collaboration on a variety of topics, including energy, climate, trade, investment, jobs, future technologies, and social mobility.
It’s difficult to say whether the lofty conversations will result in significant announcements that advance solutions to the biggest problems facing the globe. Rich CEOs who occasionally arrive at the event on corporate planes that spew pollutants have been condemned for attending.
Four representatives of the arts and culture will be recognized on Monday, the first day of the event: The “Crystal Award,” presented by the forum in honor of artists who “create bridges and serve as role models for all leaders of society,” will go to artist Maya Lin, singer Renée Fleming, and also actors Idris and Sabrina Dhowre Elba.
