Ukraine tops the agenda at 2022 World Economic Forum
Ukraine is top of the agenda at the four-day meeting of global business leaders at the World Economic Forum, which kicked off in earnest on Monday with a video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“This is the world’s most influential economic platform, where Ukraine has something to say,” Zelenskiy said in his daily video address on Sunday night.
The WEF meeting emerges from a coronavirus pandemic hiatus of more than two years, and a deferral from January to May however, Russian politicians, executives and academics are entirely absent at the event.
In the past, Russian institutions such as its sovereign wealth fund, state banks and private companies have in previous years thrown some of the most glitzy parties, serving black caviar, vintage champagne and foie gras.
Aside from the Ukraine crisis, the post-pandemic recovery, tackling climate change, the future of work, accelerating stakeholder capitalism and harnessing new technologies are among the topics scheduled for discussion at Davos.
Business Agenda
On the business agenda, discussions are likely to focus on the souring state of financial markets and the global economy.
After a sharp bounceback from the downturn triggered two years ago by the onset of the pandemic, there are now myriad threats to that recovery, leading the International Monetary Fund to downgrade its global growth forecast for the second time since the year began.
Inflation due to hobbled supply chains emerged as a problem last year, particularly in the U.S. economy.
That has been compounded since the beginning of 2022 by events including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and waves of COVID-19 lockdowns across China that have stalled a recovery.
Meanwhile, the WEF meeting may not be back to pre-pandemic levels, with Zurich’s airport expecting the number of flights to be about two-thirds of previous levels; but its return comes as a welcome relief to the host country, with the hopes of boosting tourism and raising revenue from the sector through it ski resort’s hotels and restaurants.
“It is another step back to normality,”Samuel Rosenast, spokesperson for the local tourism board, said last week.
Reuetrs/Hauwa Abu
