On Monday, the 55th World Economic Forum (WEF) will begin in Davos. The annual meeting of political and business leaders will be held under the theme “Cooperation in the Intelligent Age”. In the meeting and behind-the-scenes discussions, the topic of Donald Trump’s presidency and artificial intelligence will be the main topic.
The most important thing, as usual, will be dialogue and even intimate conversations outside the official program, – the organizers of this year’s meeting emphasize on the Forum website.
Trump will dominate the debates
350 political leaders, including 60 heads of state and government, as well as about 3,000 people announced their participation in this meeting. political leaders of more than 130 countries and more than 900 heads of companies. The Swiss resort will be visited by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexian, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog. and Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Muhammad Mustafa.
The president will be Andrzej Duda from Poland.
The start of the meeting in Davos coincides with the inauguration of the US President Donald Trump, who will speak with the participants of the Forum through a video link. As AFP explains, Trump and his policies monopolize a significant part of informal proceedings and discussions. WEF chief Borge Brende said that Davos visitors are “very interested in understanding and understanding the policies of the new (US) administration, so it will be a very interesting week.”
Brende added that the President of the United States plans to actively participate in the negotiations of the participating leaders of the Forum at the end of the meeting, which will continue until January 24.
International organizations including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, head of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva, director general of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and head of the World Health Organization Tedros are represented at this meeting. Adhanom Gebreyus.
The speech of Volodymyr Zalensky, the President of the Republic of Ukraine, is expected on Tuesday. Russia’s war against Ukraine has already been a major topic at previous meetings in Davos.
Artificial intelligence will be an important topic
According to the official announcements of the WEF, the participants of the forum will be interested in the development opportunities offered by artificial intelligence (AI), as well as the difficult consequences of its expansion, such as the loss of jobs, the need to retrain millions of employees, changes in the field of education. and social welfare systems.
It is necessary to develop thinking about artificial intelligence and automation in geopolitical terms – the organizers of the Forum emphasize.
However, Josh Lipsky, director of the Atlantic Council’s think tank on the global economy, told AFP: “The most important event for the global economy will definitely take place this week in Washington, not in Davos (…). It’s about No. The (Trump) swearing-in, but about his orders that we have from the first day (of the presidency), from in particular, we are waiting for customs tariffs.”
Funny news from Davos
The Financial Times recalled the historical and humorous reports from Davos, the newspaper’s chief commentator on foreign affairs, Gideon Rachman, who once marveled at the organizers’ idea of a debate on climate change between former Israeli president Shimon Peres and supermodel Claudia. Slate.
Rachman made the most of the fact that “there are many billionaires for whom it is not a problem” to offer bottles of “top wines” in Davos, such as Chateau Yquem for 1,845 euros, as part of the tasting along with informal discussions.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/MICHAEL BUHOLZER
