At the annual meeting in Davos, all eyes are on Trump

The annual gathering of leaders, businessmen, civil society representatives and media people opens today (Monday) In Davos, Switzerland, in the shadow of another event taking place thousands of kilometers away: the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in Washington. The start of the American leader’s second term overshadows the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which over the years has become a regular global meeting between the world’s political strata The business, with a lot of PR around.

While the old European elite is congregating in the Swiss ski town, the new one is making its way to the inauguration in Washington: Trump has invited billionaires like Elon Musk, the heads of the American and global financial industry, as well as far-right leaders from around Europe to his inauguration ceremony. Until this Thursday, when he will appear via video to the participants of the convention, the central elephant in the Davos discussion rooms will be Trump, and the big missing person that will affect the world of business, economics and politics in the coming year: the policies he will lead.

Trump doesn’t bother to come

The numbers for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum are similar to those of previous years: 3,000 participants in total, 60 heads of state, another 290 senior politicians, 900 businessmen, representatives from 130 countries (including Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog) and five days of discussions that began on Monday and will end on Friday. The town is almost completely blocked off by the Swiss police, military forces assist it, private helicopters land nearby, convoys of limousines make their way through the winding roads and the “who’s who” of the worlds of business and politics can rub elbows without interruption.

But the prominence and importance of the leaders who make the pilgrimage to Davos is not what it used to be. Trump does not bother to come himself, as he did in the past, China is content to send one of its vice presidents, and when the list of attendees published by the forum is opened by German Chancellor Olaf Schulz, or the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen – both regular guests at the annual gathering – it is clear that the global focus is on elsewhere.

In fact, it is precisely those who have not confirmed their arrival, who may “jump in” for a visit at the last minute, that provoke the most lively discussions. Among them is Musk, who has begun to intervene in European politics more strongly in recent weeks, and Argentine President Javier Millay. Both may come at the last minute from Washington.

In practice, the series of orders that Trump promised to sign on his first day, his policy towards the European Union, the war in Ukraine and also the situation in the Middle East will be at the center of the geopolitical discussions of the gatherings.

In contrast to the past of Davos and the Economic Forum, which in recent decades promoted free trade, increasing globalization and collective responsibility for environmental issues, the global zeitgeist is now turning to separatism, the struggle for resources and territories, and national interests. “Have we entered an era where only the strong will survive?”, wondered French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro, who will participate in the gathering, “My answer is yes.” “All eyes will be on Trump,” said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, who is considered one of the regular attendees at the meeting.

The organizers are aware of the issue, and are trying to turn the uncertainty into an advantage. “There is a broad consensus that we are now in a more competitive, geo-strategic and geo-economic era,” said one of the organizers of the conference, “we see these changes manifesting in supply chains, changes in trade. The entire global picture is changing.” In a time of uncertainty, said the president of the World Economic Forum Borga Brenda, “Davos is the place where governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations come to understand what kind of world we will face in the coming year.”

will focus on AI

Beyond pretensions to discuss the future of the world from a political point of view, Davos also remained a place dedicated to business. Therefore, this year the organizers put the security and diplomatic issues aside, and focused on the business and human revolution that the world is experiencing in the form of artificial intelligence.

In this area, guests who are expected to participate this year (as was also the case last year) are Sam Altman, who heads OpenAI, as well as Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and CEO Satya Nadella. The World Economic Forum defined the current gathering as one that deals with “joint work In the age of intelligence”, and a series of discussions will deal with the field’s potential to become a global growth engine.

Analysts also estimated that this year, against the background of Trump taking office, issues of environmental quality and environmental responsibility will be less at the center of things in Davos, and the businesses around fossil fuels, energy in general (among other things due to the energy needs of the AI ​​tools) and economic growth will replace them. “Everything will be about growth,” the director of the consulting agency AlixPartners told the “Financial Times” ahead of the convention, “every CEO is thinking about how to create growth in the current environment.” Trump is expected to facilitate gas production and oil drilling, and has already threatened Europe that it must “purchase more Energy from the USA.

A preliminary survey conducted by the forum among 900 experts found that their greatest fear (23%) is “conflict between countries”, while in second place (14%) are “extreme weather events” and in third place (8%) – geo-economic conflict.

The climate crisis Not in the picture

Many of those present in Davos will arrive at the convention richer than last year, noted the American “Politico” website, due, among other things, to the tide in the stock markets. The annual report of the charity organization “Oxfam” found that the wealth of the billionaires around the world jumped in the past year at a rate three times higher than that recorded in the year before it, and grew by two trillion dollars. Four new billionaires joined this class every week in the past year, it was noted.

This development represents the true zeitgeist, the American website wrote. “The focus this year in Davos will again be on how to make deals and how to make money… Issues like diverse representation in the economy or climate change are getting weaker.”

Cryptocurrencies, which for several years dominated the main street of Davos (where companies rent premises for hundreds of thousands of dollars in favor of booths promoting companies and business areas, AA), are expected to return to center stage. Trump promised to make Washington the “crypto capital of the world”, And the various currencies have been soaring since their election.The message coming out of Washington is resonating in Davos, reshaping the entire business focus.