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Participants in the Annual Meeting 2008 came away from five days of discussions in Davos with numerous concrete outcomes. Leaders from business, government and civil society worked together to create projects to bolster humanitarian relief, support small farmers in developing countries, combat climate change and strengthen interfaith dialogue, among others. Read more about the outcomes. |
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 The rising importance of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) received much attention at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008, addressing concern about their potential political influence.  |
 The seventh Social Entrepreneurs Summit held just before the Annual Meeting in Davos on 20-22 January broke new boundaries. More than 240 social entrepreneurs and resource providers gathered for an intensive three days around the theme "Social Entrepreneurship: Connecting Markets and Meaning". |
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Participants in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 came away from five days of discussions in Davos with numerous concrete outcomes. Leaders from business, government and civil society worked together to create projects to bolster humanitarian relief, support small farmers in developing countries, combat climate change, fight poverty and strengthen interfaith dialogue, among others. A sense of urgency to collaborate was heightened by world events including the financial market turmoil, continuing conflict in the Middle East, mounting awareness of the climate change challenge and the looming threat of global terrorism. The Annual Meeting theme – The Power of Collaborative Innovation – was therefore a fitting focus. It highlighted that a multistakeholder approach is critical for any viable solutions to global problems. The World Economic Forum has underscored that, since the first Davos meeting 38 years ago, government, business and civil society must engage each other to find effective approaches to the most pressing issues. This year, particular emphasis was placed on corporate global citizenship, the principle that companies must be involved in addressing the major challenges we face today and aligning their engagement in society with their business goals. This commitment is at the core of what the Forum stands for. The power of collaborative innovation also served to underline the need for new and imaginative ways to mitigate global risks and the importance of achieving tangible results or value. “This is a time for sincere pragmatism and a new brand of collaborative leadership to address the many priorities on the global agenda,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. Among the outcomes of the Annual Meeting: • Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveiled a five-year, US$ 10 billion fund to support efforts in developing countries to combat global warming – a move to ensure that top priority is given to climate change at this year's G8 Summit in Hokkaido. • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a US$ 306 million package of agricultural development grants. • The World Economic Forum, Forum Member companies and the United Nations launched initiatives to facilitate greater private sector support of humanitarian relief operations. Among the programmes established: Agility, TNT and UPS are joining forces to help the humanitarian sector with emergency response to large-scale natural disasters. • The World Economic Forum launched a landmark report on interfaith dialogue between Muslim and Western societies. Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue is intended to be an annual global reference on the state of dialogue among faiths that will increase interfaith communication. The Forum's Community of West and Islam Dialogue also presented a special award to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for his work in promoting West-Islamic dialogue and cooperation. • The World Economic Forum released the first part of the most comprehensive investigation into private equity: The Globalization of Alternative Investments Working Papers Volume 1: The Global Economic Impact of Private Equity Report 2008. • The Forum's Global Education Initiative (GEI) designated Rwanda as the launch country for a pilot education programme, to be done in partnership with the Education For All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) under the banner of the Global Education Alliance (GEA). • Gordon Brown, Bill Gates, Bono, Queen Rania, Ban Ki-moon, Klaus Schwab, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and John T. Chambers issued a joint statement in Davos vowing to make 2008 a turning point in the fight against poverty. • Mayors, regional governors and the private sector launched the World Economic Forum's SlimCity Initiative, an exchange programme between cities and companies to support action on resource efficiency in urban areas, focusing on energy, water, waste, mobility, planning, health and climate change.
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International business leaders must fully commit to sustainable development and address paramount global challenges, including climate change, the provision of public healthcare, energy conservation and the management of resources, particularly water. Because these global issues increasingly impact business, not to engage with them can hurt the bottom line. Because global citizenship is in a corporation's enlightened self-interest, it is sustainable. Addressing global issues can be good for the corporation and for society at a time of increasing globalization and diminishing state influence." Read the full article |
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In the run-up to the Annual Meeting, the Forum posed the Davos Question: “What one thing do you think countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?” Almost 300 YouTube users, including some of the Forum's Members, sent in personal video replies. The best were shown during the opening and other selected plenary sessions at the Meeting. The topics most often included development, economics, education, environment, climate change, energy, water, governance, human rights, values and technology innovations. Watch the best replies on the following website: http://www.youtube.com/profile_favorites?user=thedavosquestion In Davos, the Forum set up a special Davos Conversation corner where all participants were encouraged to reply to these videos uploaded by YouTube users, or to simply answer the Davos Question. Over 110 participants, including President Shimon Peres of Israel, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, musician Bono and actress Emma Thompson along with numerous business leaders used the special video corner to record their messages. Watch the best responses here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=749732FFD312CA7F "The Davos Question and the Davos Conversation video corner were the embodiment of our Annual Meeting theme: 'The Power of Collaborative Innovation',” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. |
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 Water emerged as one of the dominant themes at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008. No individual, firm or nation can escape the consequences of water scarcity. “The challenge of securing safe and plentiful water for all is one of the most daunting challenges faced by the world today,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. |
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He told leaders in Davos that water stress poses a risk to economic growth, human rights, health, safety and national security, and that water shortages can lead to conflict, such as in Darfur and other parts of the world. Many participants, however, agreed that the water challenge could be solved, using collaborative approaches, political will, market mechanisms and innovative technology like those which arose in response to global warming. |
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 The rising importance of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) received much attention at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008, addressing concern about their potential political influence. A voluntary code of conduct could help assuage these fears, suggested Larry Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University . |
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"If we believe in free markets, shouldn't we have some kind of guidelines for transactions that have an element, if only a small element, of cross-border nationalization?" he said.
Many agreed that the growing financial clout of SWFs – government-controlled funds estimated at US$ 2.5 trillion in assets – should be welcomed, not opposed, by global policy-makers because:
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 The seventh Social Entrepreneurs Summit held just before the Annual Meeting in Davos on 20-22 January broke new boundaries. More than 240 social entrepreneurs and resource providers gathered for an intensive three days around the theme "Social Entrepreneurship: Connecting Markets and Meaning". |
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The programme was designed for maximum interaction and exploration among participants. On the first day, accomplished social entrepreneurs in the community met to learn from one another and identify areas of mutual collaboration. They were joined over the next two days by "resource providers" - business, foundations, universities, academia and media - who presented their respective missions and interests in connecting with social entrepreneurs to identify real areas of cooperation. Read more about the work of World Economic Forum Social Entrepreneurs at: http://www.schwabfound.org |
 Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the second annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008. Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, Canada and France complete the top-10 list. |
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“Our study of 130 countries is not a ‘beauty contest', or a statement about the attractiveness of a country. On the contrary, we aim to measure the factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries,” said Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Network. “The dependence of tourism on the quality of the natural environment leads national governments and the tourism industry to focus increasingly on environmental protection,” said Thea Chiesa, head of Aviation, Travel and Tourism at the World Economic Forum. In this context, this year's Report, under the theme Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability, places a particular focus on the issue. The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, international T&T institutions and T&T experts, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries included in the Report. Watch the full 6 minute interview with editors Jennifer Blanke and Thea Chiesa. |
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 A new report investigates the possible shape of the business environment for the implementers of capital projects in 2020. Engineering & Construction – Scenarios to 2020 paints four very different pictures for E&C over the coming 12 years. The report is not an attempt to predict the future, but to sketch the boundaries of what could possibly happen. The resulting scenarios aim to enable those in the industry to make better strategic decisions and to proactively shape their industry's future. |
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The four scenarios emerged from two key questions identified by project participants: Described in greater detail in the publication, the worlds are envisaged for 2020 as: "This E&C 2020 Scenario Planning process offers those of us who lead E&C companies a unique opportunity to make our strategic planning processes more effective, and allows us to respond more quickly and confidently to future changes in our dynamic industry. We live in a world that is full of uncertainty and the E&C 2020 process lets us tackle that uncertainty head-on in a systematic way that will help us make our resource allocation decisions – and our response to unfolding events – more robust and effective." Ralph Peterson, Chairman and CEO, CH2M HILL. For more information on the E&C community, visit www.weforum.org/ip/ec or e-mail EngineeringConstruction@weforum.org |
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If selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company will be invited to participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, and to regional meetings held by the Forum throughout the year. They will also have opportunities to become involved in Forum initiatives and task forces that cover a variety of subjects. The annual selection of Technology Pioneers is widely covered by leading global media. |
 A study reveals that 90% of the companies surveyed that are signatories to the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) have an anti-corruption programme in place. Nearly a quarter of these companies implemented a programme after they became signatories to PACI, according to the first Highlighting Achievers Survey. |
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Other findings of the survey reveal that: PACI is a global anti-corruption initiative driven by the private sector, bringing together companies from multiple industries from throughout the world to fight bribery and corruption. Launched by CEOs from leading global corporations at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2004 in Davos, PACI helps to consolidate industry efforts on the issue and to shape the evolving regulatory framework. By becoming a PACI signatory, a company commits to a zero-tolerance policy toward bribery and corruption and agrees to put in place an internal anti-corruption programme that reflects the PACI Principles. The Highlighting Achievers Survey findings come at a time of growing interest and concern about the effects of corruption on business performance. With an estimated total volume of bribes paid annually reaching US$ 1 trillion today, this year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 in Davos revealed an unparalleled corporate interest in fighting corruption. |
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World Economic Forum on Latin America Cancún, Mexico 15-16 April 2008 Securing a Place in the Global Shifting Landscape President of Mexico and co-host of the World Economic Forum on Latin America , Felipe Calderón, set his challenge for the region: “We have to build from the centre a regime that respects the market and a regime that pursues social justice and defends the environment." |
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To respond to this call to action at the meeting in Cancún, regional leaders from business, politics and civil society will focus on constructing a promising future around five core pillars: The programme is aligned with the Santiago Consensus , the region's top five priorities reached at last year's meeting as “an action programme for achieving and sustaining higher productivity and growth with equity”. Those priorities are investment in education, with a focus on quality; environmental sustainability policies; government and private investment in R&D; efficiency in tax collection and transparency in spending; and increased private and public investment in infrastructure. The Co-Chairs are |
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World Economic Forum on the Middle East Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 18-20 May 2008 Learning from the Future The annual World Economic Forum on the Middle East is the region's top gathering of political, business and cultural leaders. This year's meeting will use scenarios to explore the region's future and allow participants to learn from the future. Scenarios are plausible, relevant and stimulating stories about the future, bringing a fresh perspective to the challenging issues of the present. |
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The Co-Chairs are |
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Global businesses are buying African assets and setting up in a region that many call the last frontier. While this may augur well for Africa 's growth, are Africans ready to compete with the world? The 18th World Economic Forum on Africa will address this and other strategic challenges: from a review of the latest initiatives to tackle the business climate, physical and social infrastructure, to an introduction of the new leaders in the region and insight into their priorities for tomorrow. The Co-Chairs are |
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World Economic Forum Russia CEO Roundtable The World Economic Forum will continue its tradition of cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Economy and Trade by supporting the XII St Petersburg International Economic Forum. While the large St Petersburg Forum will focus on business opportunities in Russia, the World Economic Forum Russia CEO Roundtable will bring leading global CEOs in exclusive discussions together with current and future Russian political leaders. |
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This opportunity to engage with the Russian decision-makers comes at a crucial moment after the Russian presidential elections. The Co-Chairs are |
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World Economic Forum on East Asia |
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Participants will explore two fundamental assumptions. The first is that a global shift in power and influence is occurring whereby the lead actors are not transatlantic in origin but Asian-Pacific. How will change be managed between nations as well as within key institutions to adapt to this shift? The second is that Asia is able and willing to assume the global leadership responsibilities that will flow from this shifting power equation. |
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Annual Meeting of the New Champions |
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The Meeting will highlight opportunities created by, and available to, the new champions and explore the next wave of growth that is already beginning to appear. These new champions stand out for their ability to capitalize on fresh ideas, innovative business models and new technologies, regardless of prevailing macroeconomic conditions. |