Covid-19 is forcing the traditional ‘Davos week’ of the World Economic Forum – due to take place from 25 to 29 January – to be held by videoconference this year. More than 1,500 leaders from government, business, and civil society have all confirmed their participation. On the European side, the President of the European Commission, two Executive Vice-Presidents, and three Commissioners are expected to attend.
This virtual edition, which is not conducive to the usual corridor negotiations, is expected to be followed by a physical meeting in Singapore to be held from 25–28 May. According to the organisers, this venue is deemed safer than Davos in terms of health safety.
“A crucial year for rebuilding trust” is the theme chosen for this edition. For Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, “Rebuilding trust and increasing global cooperation are crucial to fostering innovative and bold solutions to stem the pandemic and drive a robust recovery”.
The speech on the State of the World that Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will deliver on Tuesday 26 January is likely to also be along these lines.
On Wednesday, the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, the Commissioner for Financial Services, Mairead McGuinness, and the Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fishieries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, will take part in sessions dedicated to climate change and the transition to a carbon-neutral economy.
On Friday, the Executive Vice-President in charge of the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, will outline his vision on how the green transition in Europe can be accelerated. On the same day, the Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People, Valdis Dombrovskis, will participate in a session entitled “Fixing the International Trade System”.
Several leaders of European countries will also attend, such as the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, as well as the Prime Ministers of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, Spain, Pedro Sánchez, Greece, Kyriákos Mitsotákis, and the Netherlands, Mark Rutte.
Another highly anticipated speech will be that given by the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, on Wednesday 27 January; this comes at a time when he has just survived an acute internal political crisis and when Italy is due to hold the presidency of the G20 this year.
Alongside theEuropeans, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are all expected to attend along with the Korean President, Moon Jae-in, and the Argentinean President, Alberto Fernández.
As for the new US administration, only John Kerry, the US special envoy on climate change, is confirmed as attending for the time being since Joe Biden's team has yet to be approved by the US Congress.
The participants will be invited to exchange views on their responses to the Covid-19 crisis, looking at the issue of vaccines and the challenges for their health systems. On this subject, contributions from the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, are particularly anticipated.
Moreover, several representatives ofthe pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca will be present.
The global economic situation will also, of course, be on the agenda. The heads of major European and international financial organisations will be present, such as the President of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, the President of the EIB, Werner Hoyer, the Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, and the Secretary-General of the OECD, Ángel Gurría.
In addition, several Finance Ministers and governors of central banks will take part in discussions on how to restore economic growth, in particular the French minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, and the German Minister of Economic Affairs, Peter Altmaier.
The week will be divided into five themes: – designing cohesive, sustainable and resilient economic systems (25 January); – driving responsible industry transformation and growth (26 January); – enhancing stewardship of our global commons (27 January); - harnessing the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (28 January); – advancing global and regional cooperation (29 January).
See the agenda: http://bit.ly/3c2T9m0 (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)