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Watch ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 15, 2024.
Adam Galici | CNBC
LONDON — It’s that time of year when the great and the good gather at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
A host of heads of state, politicians and business tycoons will attend the four-day event in the Alpine resort, but more telling are the leaders sidelining the forum.
While Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as US president on Monday, is expected to address the forum via live video links on Thursday, several top leaders are absent from the event.
They include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian leader Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations – including the US, Europe’s largest economies, Canada and Japan – the only head of state to attend the summit is German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The WEF says this year’s event — the 55th annual forum, which runs from Monday to Thursday — will bring together 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries, with the gathering “highlighting the critical need for dialogue in an era of increasing uncertainty.” He noted that 350 heads of government, including 60 heads of state and government, “will meet in Davos-Klosters to face the urgent challenges and shape the emerging opportunities”.
People walk past the big screen as US President Donald Trump speaks at the Davos Congress Center (C), home of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), on January 26, 2018 in the town of Davos, eastern Switzerland. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Miguel Medina | Afp | Getty Images
The theme of the event is “Partnering for the Smart Age”, and the agenda is based on five main axes: reimagining growth, industries in the smart age, investing in people, protecting what is planted and rebuilding trust.
Not all world leaders will be there to discuss these issues, however.
“The leaders of Brazil, China, India who gave keynote speeches 10 years ago are not here now. Russia has not been hosted for a few years, Keir Starmer will not be there. Macron will not be there,” Jan Aart Scholte Leiden told CNBC on Thursday. University professors of global transformation and governance challenges.
“It’s true, the president of the Spanish government will be there and there are a couple of others, but the general picture of the heads of state, of the government there, is that they are not big players. I think if you were to go through it. A list of the G20, it will be a small minority (who are going) “, he said.
A collective effort
No official reason is often given for their lack of participation in the WEF, but pressing domestic issues—from slowing economic growth to political crises—have been known to keep heads of government at home.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017.
Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty Images
In recent years, there has also been some ambivalence about attending an event that has been accused of being elitist and out of touch.
The forum has repeatedly stated that it provides a space for actors from business, government, academia, civil society, the media and the arts to “gather on a global, impartial and non-profit platform”.
These people, he says, “come together to find common ground and take advantage of opportunities to bring about positive change in major global issues.”
In a statement to CNBC on Monday, the WEF said that while it always values the presence of top global leaders, “the impact of the Annual Meeting and its ability to drive meaningful dialogue and action is defined by the collective efforts of a broad and representative community.”
This year’s program, the forum continued, is “designed to address the world’s most pressing challenges, including economic fragmentation, technological transformation and climate action.”
“We recognize that global leaders have a wide range of commitments and responsibilities, and their absence does not diminish our engagement with our respective governments and organizations throughout the year,” the WEF added.
Who will be there
Some big names will still join this year’s summit — the event began in 1971 with Klaus Schwab, the event’s executive chairman until the start of this year.
China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Argentina’s Prime Minister Javier Milei and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver speeches in Davos this week.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will also attend, as will the leaders of world organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.
Ursula von der Leyen reacts after being elected President of the European Commission for a second term, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on July 18, 2024.
Johanna Geron | Reuters
Sven Smit, senior strategic partner at McKinsey & Company WEF, said in the online comments that participants would prioritize “understanding what’s on the minds of the leaders who are in Davos.”
“You can’t fully predict, there are themes that people suggest, ranging from growth to sustainability, but what emerges as a Davos theme is not fully predictable and that’s the interesting part,” said Smit.
However, many Western institutions in attendance have, in recent years, found themselves on the wrong side of the anti-globalization push by populist leaders like Trump and countries like Russia and China.
The WEF has also bucked this anti-establishment trend, Scholt points out, and while the presence of leaders like Trump may not have been sought after in the past, it is now recognized that the world has changed.
“I don’t think the proponents of a liberal and open world economy speak as disdainfully as they might have done before, say, the global financial crisis, about opposing forces and perspectives,” he said.
“I think there’s a little more humility, no, sometimes it doesn’t quite work. And no, we don’t always have to consider those who feel left out of this.”
However, he stressed that the WEF is still attractive to many business and political leaders.
“There are several indicators that a forum like the World Economic Forum is not as strong a magnet as it might have been a couple of decades ago,” Scholte said. “But I think it would be wrong to say that it is no longer a magnet, and that it doesn’t even have certain areas within global economic governance where it can still be very strong.”
