It’s that time of the year again. The quaint snow-covered Swiss town of Davos is welcoming global leaders for the annual meeting of the
This year’s event comes on the heels of a super election year that saw incumbents in many countries being ousted or losing vote share as voters, reeling from and bleak economic prospects, backed radical parties and candidates.
The populist surge, as well as and , the alarming regularity of extreme weather events, and the unfolding revolution are some of the key issues that delegates will focus on during the five-day meeting.
“It is happening against the most complicated geopolitical backdrop in generations,” WEF President Borge Brende told journalists on Tuesday.
Nearly 3,000 leaders, including 60 heads of state and governments, from more than 130 countries are expected in the Swiss Alpine town. Among global leaders due to attend the meeting are , , China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, Argentina’s Javier Milei, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus.
Donald Trump to dominate discussions
will address the gathering virtually just days after his inauguration as
is expected to dominate discussions in Davos. From threatening to impose tariffs on friends and foes alike to displaying expansionist ambitions toward and , Trump has left investors, companies and governments guessing.
Policymakers and investors are still trying to figure out exactly how Trump’s trade wars would unfold, and how they would impact the economy. The potential tariffs are expected to further hurt economies like and , which are already struggling with negative and subdued growth, respectively.
Experts warn that Trump’s sweeping proposals, which go well beyond what his last administration implemented, would drive up prices and trigger retaliation from trade partners, causing a global shock.
“If you go by the experience we had with Trump’s first administration, trade grew, investment grew,” Brende said. “But there’s a different landscape now where we might see more tariffs, we might see more nearshoring, friendshoring, so the supply chains will change, but as long as we see trade growth and global growth, you can look at it as a glass half empty or half full.”
Ukraine, Gaza and Syria in focus
Russia’s war in Ukraine, now approaching its three-year-mark, is once again one of the key topics on the agenda. Ukrainian President will attend the meeting in person.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to reach a peace deal to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict on his first day in office, a timeline that seems unrealistic. Even Trump advisors are looking at a timeline of months to end the war.
Ukraine’s Victor Pinchuk Foundation will host several events at the Ukraine House this year, including the “Your Country First — Win With Us” project.
“Because if Ukraine falls, dangers will come to you fast. Your security will be damaged, your economy, welfare, and your chance to live the life you want will be at risk,” the Foundation said in a statement. “Whereas Ukraine prevailing deters aggressors globally.”
State-based armed conflict is the top risk in 2025, according to an annual risks survey published by the WEF on Wednesday, with geoeconomic confrontation, the third-ranked danger, revealing an “increasingly fractured global landscape.”
Syria, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the potential escalation of the conflict in the Middle East are also in focus this year. Several leaders from the region are expected, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority Mohammed Mustafa, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al Shibani.
‘Intelligent Age’
The 55th WEF annual meeting is convening under the theme “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age” — an age that’s witnessing rapid advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
AI is already showing a lot of promise in many industries, including health care, education and agriculture, but it’s also threatening to make millions of jobs redundant.
A WEF report on the future of jobs published earlier this month said shifting global trends and new technologies are projected to generate 170 million new jobs by 2030 while displacing 92 million others — underscoring the need to upskill workers globally.
US tech firm Workday, in a study on AI’s impact on jobs, found that AI will be a catalyst for a “skills revolution” in which essentially human skills such as creativity, empathy and ethical decision-making will become the most valuable assets in the workplace.
Kathy Pham, computer scientist and vice president at Workday, says Davos will provide a platform for businesses and governments to understand how jobs, skills and rules have evolved over time in different parts of the world, and how people interact with technology.
“That for me is the wish list of what comes out of Davos. Candid conversations on what the future of the workforce would look like alongside this latest wave of AI,” she told DW.
Edited by: Uwe Hessler
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