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News: World Economic Forum’s 2023 Davos event ends: Here are the major takeaways

What's in the news?

● The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2023, held in the Swiss town of Davos, ended January 20 - a conference that started in a world possibly fundamentally altered, but whose processes and outcomes remained pretty much business as usual.

Key takeaways:

2023 Annual Meet:

● The annual meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023 is being held in Davos, Switzerland, from 16 January to 20 January 2023.

● The event is being hosted by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with the Swiss Government and the Canton of Graubünden.

● Over 2,700 leaders from 130 countries are invited to this year’s meeting in Davos.

Theme - ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’.

Agenda of 2023 Meet:

1. Economics of Women’s Health

2. State of the Pandemic

3. Putting health at the Heart of Climate Action

4. Health System: Building through Disruption

5. Better Health with Data.

Outcomes:

1. Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate:

● A new Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate launched, bringing together over 50 countries to boost international cooperation on climate, trade and sustainable development.

2. Chief Economists Outlook:

● The Chief Economist's Outlook was launched, which struck a cautious tone, with two-thirds of those surveyed expecting a global recession this year 2023.

● It explores the key trends in the economic environment, including the prospects for growth, inflation and monetary and fiscal policy.

● It calls for the importance of reskilling in order to prepare current and future workforces for the green transition, the digital transition and the jobs of the future.

3. Giving to Amplify Earth Action:

● A new initiative Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA) was launched to leverage philanthropic capital to unlock funding for the climate crisis.

● It will leverage philanthropic capital to help generate the USD 3 trillion needed each year from public and private sources to tackle climate change and nature loss.

● GAEA is a ground-breaking initiative supported by more than 45 major philanthropic, public and private sector partners.

4. Global Collaboration Village:

● WEF has announced the rollout of its own metaverse platform, dubbed the Global Collaboration Village.

● The digital world, designed to look like the actual town of Davos in which the organization meets once every year, will supposedly allow for more efficient collaboration between world leaders.

World Economic Forum:

● The World Economic Forum established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and is the international organization for public-private cooperation.

● The forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industrial agendas.

Features:

● The forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is the prime objective of its every action.

● Activities of the forum are shaped by a unique institutional culture founded on the stakeholder theory, which asserts that an organization is accountable to all parts of society.

● The institution carefully blends and balances the best of many kinds of organizations, from public and private sectors, international organizations and academic institutions.

Funding:

● The WEF is largely funded by its partnering corporations. These are generally global enterprises with annual turnover greater than $ 5 billion.

● For these corporations, the WEF provides a platform to shape the future, accessing networks and experts to ensure strategic decision-making on the most pressing world issues. WEF also partners with public subsidies.

India and World Economic Forum:

● With the World Economic Forum’s 50th anniversary in 2022, India is also celebrated its 35 years of collaboration with the forum, providing an opportunity for India to showcase its unified presence.

● World Economic Forum could provide a potential platform to project India as an important and relevant stakeholder in shaping global initiative. Also as an attractive destination in view of its robust economic growth and stable macroeconomic indicators.

● To mark 75 years of independence, ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, DPIIT has taken initiative to have a consolidated presence at WEF, 2022.