Davos Forum.. Will it succeed in restoring confidence in the world’s economic future in the face of crises?

• More than 100 governments participate in the forum, in addition to all major international organizations
• It is the responsibility of the participating elites to innovate and present sustainable solutions and vital projects
• The dominance of the security issue will dominate the atmosphere of the forum this year
• “Davos” set 4 main axes to discuss and develop visions for alleviating the burdens of global crises and overcoming them in the future.
• Can the elite forum come up with more effective visions to mitigate the repercussions of wars and tensions?

After bidding farewell to a year full of crises and challenges, all eyes are turning to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum 2024, which brings together leaders of politics, business and society from around the world to discuss the most pressing issues and explore plans and solutions for a better world.

The forum will be held over a week from January 15 to 19 at the winter ski resort of Davos in the Swiss Alps, under the slogan “Rebuilding Confidence” after ongoing and worsening events and disturbances. Will the world witness another year of ongoing crises, or will the year 2024 Will it be a year of resolution and recovery?

The answer to this pivotal question may be provided by the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, which is expected to provide tools to implement principles that drive trust and promote transparency and accountability.

More than 100 governments participate in the Forum, in addition to all major international organizations and the Forum’s 1,000 partners, joined by civil society leaders, experts, young leaders, social entrepreneurs, and press and media institutions.

It is the responsibility of the participating elites to innovate and present sustainable solutions and vital projects to move away from the previous title of the forum in 2023, “Multiple Crises,” to “Restoring Confidence” and confronting the security disturbances, the most important of which are the war in Ukraine and Gaza, and the tensions in the Red Sea.

The dominance of the security issue will dominate the atmosphere of the forum, this is what the President of the World Economic Forum, Borg Brende, said in statements last week, who explained that the meeting “is taking place against the most complex geopolitical and geoeconomic background in decades.”

Brende added, "We know that the war in Gaza is still ongoing and there are fears of further escalation," stressing that the World Economic Forum meeting "will consider how to avoid further deterioration, because we need an injection of hope."

The crises that the year 2023 witnessed, from wars and geopolitical turmoil, to crises of rising costs of living, energy, food security, and intensifying climate emergencies, are still before the world and pose complex challenges to the inhabitants of the planet.

These conflicts are still raging in the year 2024, accompanied by “financial instability,” which constitutes a source of concern in a world fractured in terms of security, accompanied by fluctuations in inflation, deficits, unemployment, and high costs of living, which raises concerns about economic prosperity and stability.

To confront these challenges and crises, the Davos Forum developed 4 main axes to discuss them and develop visions to reduce their burdens and overcome them in the future.

From security, financial and economic recovery, creating job opportunities to reducing unemployment, dealing with artificial intelligence and its effects on individual freedoms, security, and industrial development, this is how the basic topics are distributed in the forum, and they are according to the forum’s description:

1- Achieving security and cooperation in a fractured world:

How can we overcome the security crises in the world, the most important of which are the tensions in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, and perceptions of building common ground between the parties to the conflicts? They discussed identifying opportunities for cooperation to develop fair and profitable scenarios for all parties.

This is likely to be one of the most important points on the agenda, the repercussions of which will be limited, especially in the face of ongoing conflicts such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, the crisis between Israel and Hamas, its repercussions on international navigation in the Red Sea, and the political disagreement over its treatment. This means that global cooperation to identify, prevent and manage these conflict risks has become even more important in recent months.

This includes identifying destructive sources of conflict and dealing with them effectively, in a way that is beneficial to all parties involved. In some cases, this also means that temporary solutions, such as deploying US forces elsewhere in the world to maintain security, will have to be reconsidered in favor of long-term, permanent solutions.

It is also possible to discuss a more transparent exchange of data between countries to identify and contain risks, especially at international borders. Creating a number of new alliances and agreements, especially when it comes to countering the growing influence of countries like China in regions like Southeast Asia.

2- A new era for creating growth and job opportunities:

Explore ways for government, business and civil society to create a new economic framework to avoid a decade of low growth and put people burdened by high living costs and high prices at the heart of a more prosperous path.

The level of unemployment in some countries, including Greece, Colombia, Spain, Chile, Greece and Turkey, is still experiencing high levels. While the United States and the United Kingdom have relatively low unemployment rates at the moment.

Slowing economic growth, which is raising the level of unemployment, is a worrying challenge for some countries as the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have reduced the capabilities of many companies with labor leakage and governments forced to divert funds into stimulus and support measures.

To halt this negative trajectory, the 2024 World Economic Forum Summit will focus on how governments and businesses can come together to create a strategy more focused on improving conditions for access to new jobs and growth in the years ahead.

This is likely to prevent unnecessary “brain drain” from countries such as Turkey and parts of Asia, where a lack of opportunity leads to increased competition for fewer jobs.

This applies to China, which has witnessed a high level of youth unemployment over the past few months.

3- Artificial intelligence as a driving force for the economy and society:

According to McKinsey: “Industry 4.0 – also called the Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR – is the next stage in the digitalization of the manufacturing sector, driven by the technical revolution, including the emergence of data, connectivity, analytics and human-machine interaction, to drive improvements in robotics.”

The summit is expected to focus on how companies and governments can use technology and AI-based tools to improve efficiency, reduce costs, improve supply chains, better predict natural disasters, and increase transparency and cooperation between countries.

Although artificial intelligence, or AI, has mesmerized the world with its technology as one of the most transformative technology trends, many technology leaders, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates, have warned of the dangers of relying on it.

Because artificial intelligence has become a part of today's world, it is expected that the forum this year will focus on how to make artificial intelligence safe and effective for companies and individuals to use.

The forum will attempt to answer questions about how to use AI for collective benefit? The extent to which innovation is balanced with societal risks and the interaction of artificial intelligence with other transformative technologies.

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence will be among the hot topics of discussion, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Sam Altman, president and developer of ChatGPT OpenAI, participating.

The summit will showcase the establishment of the AI Governance Alliance, an initiative focused on promoting the responsible, transparent and inclusive use of artificial intelligence.

4- Long-term strategy for climate, nature and energy:

Research into developing a long-term approach to achieving the goals of a carbon-neutral, more nature-friendly world by 2050 is a global challenge as well as ways to provide access to affordable energy, food and water.

According to the Climate Action Tracker, a large number of countries are “alarmingly” lagging behind in efforts to meet the Paris Agreement target which seeks to “limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.”

The majority of countries currently fall into the 'largely inadequate', 'largely inadequate' or 'inadequate' categories, according to the IEA's latest report, with no country able to achieve the badge of meeting the Paris Agreement-aligned target of 1.5°C.

In this regard, this year's summit will consider creating and improving sustainable approaches to get one step closer to carbon neutrality by 2050 while continuing to access affordable, inclusive and safe resources such as water, energy and food.

The conferences will also discuss ways to reduce disagreement and divergence between the Global North, which consists mostly of developed countries, and the Global South, which consists of developing countries. This is because the latter often suffers greater consequences of climate change due to the energy choices and consumption of the Global North in several circumstances.

The World Economic Forum, first established in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a Swiss-German economist and professor, was born with the aim of promoting global cooperation on political, social and economic issues.

Since its inception, Davos has succeeded, under the slogan “Committed to Improving the State of the World,” as stated in one of its founding principles, in bringing together political, economic, and media leaders to establish principles of cooperation for prosperity and economic and social development without having much influence in changing decisions on war and peace. Because of its own complexities in each region.

Can the elite forum come up with more effective visions to mitigate the repercussions of wars and tensions that cause unrest and have negative effects on global security, economic stability, and the equitable provision of energy and food in the world?