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Financial reforms, climate-change and Haiti's reconstruction are set to dominate the agenda of the fortieth anniversary meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, the picturesque Swiss mountain resort, beginning Wednesday.
Over 30 heads of either state or governments and 2,500 participants, including 1,400 business leaders, from 90 countries, will begin a five-day brainstorming session at the Congress Center. They will debate financial reforms, policies for creating jobs and other key elements of economic recovery--all to try to "rebuild and re-design" the global economy and institutions after nearly 18 traumatic months.
The theme for this meeting is: "Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign and Rebuild."
The meeting is being held in the midst of a warning from the World Bank that the global economy may see a "double dip" (second recession) next year if the ongoing fragile recovery is "mishandled."
It also is coming when faith in large economic institutions and the people who run them, is at an all-time low and a day after the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in its report that 27 million persons around the world lost their jobs last year.
Also, the meeting is opening on the day of a highly-anticipated State of the Union message by U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration seems to be alienating leading financial institutions and their CEOs, especially with his recent proposals for reforming the banking sector.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will deliver the opening address that will initiate the debate on the theme of the summit, while Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will deliver the keynote speech, the WEF said.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, as the chair of the 2010 G-20--a bloc of advanced developing countries and the developed nations--meeting, will deliver a special address.
The G-20 is expected to play a prominent role in reducing the global governance imbalance and contributing to a stronger, sustainable and more balanced world economy.
WEF founder and executive chairman Prof. Karl Schwab said in a preview interview that world leaders should look at the meeting in the context of what was happening in the world, in which the present system of global co-operation was seen not working sufficiently.
"We want to look at all issues on the global agenda in a systemic, integrated and strategic way, and we want to address in particular the issue of global cooperation. This is the reason why our Annual Meeting this year is tailored around the need to rethink, re-design and rebuild," he said.
Schwab warned that despite stock exchanges making smart gains over the past few months globally, many fundamental unresolved issues, notably that of government debt and unemployment, remained unresolved.
"We look at the stock exchanges and feel that we are coming back to the world as we had it. But this would be a false assumption. We still have many unresolved issues. We have a fundamental issue of government debt...unemployment," he cautioned.
Meanwhile, the CEOs who assembled in this picturesque town nestled by the snow-laden Alpine peaks, seemed positive about this year, though their optimism was well guarded.
The global economy may see its fragile growth wilting, the World Bank has warned in its latest report despite projecting a 2.7 per cent expansion this year and 3.2 per cent next year.
The world economy contracted by l2.2 per cent last year under the impact of the worst financial crisis set off in September 2008 since Great Depression of the 1930s.
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