There are few more elite meetings in the global conference calendar than the World Economic Forum which opened today, 25 January in Davos, Switzerland.
PM David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne led the UK pilgrimage of the UK great and the good up the Swiss mountain.
Delegates and topics for 2012 reflect the changing shift in global economic power.
What used to be a forum very much for the European and North American economic elite is now shifting its global axis east.
The session titles reflect this shift with titles such as ‘Putting China’s trillions to work’.
One plenary session entitled ‘Pain or gain?: Prosperity or austerity’ summed up the radically differing perspectives.
We can all be flies on the Twitterwall these days, so even our great leaders cannot meet entirely in secret. (@Davos2012).
Our leaders also know they can’t beat the power of face to face, and for all the gloom in the West about recession, the world economy has actually grown three per cent per year on average over the past five years, a rate that stands comparison with the two preceding decades.
The Chinese economy is 60 per cent larger than it was in 2007 and India half as big again over the same period.
In terms of conference data, there are 2,600 delegates in Davos this year, 40 heads of state, 70 billionaires and our very own Lord Sebastian Coe. There are also 18 central bank chiefs and 10,000 soldiers, police and private security personnel.
Most business leaders come for the networking opportunities and companies paid around £12,800 for a ticket to the show.
No money was spared on the evening entertainment, with Standard Chartered’s Asian Fusion Nightcap on 27 January likely to prove popular and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s bash possibly the party to get into.
Those overdosing on the vodka may miss the exciting sessions: ‘Remodelling capitalism’ or ‘The globalisation of non-communicable diseases’.
Alternative venues at Davos include the Occupy movement’s protest igloos.
News for CN? Email: pcolston@mashmedia.net
