Mint Explainer: What WEF 2024 hopes to achieve

livemint.com:

It’s that time of the year when several heads of state, the richest and most powerful businessmen, civil society and the media head to the snowclad resort town of Davos in the Swiss Alps for a five-day pilgrimage to brainstorm and shape the global agenda. The 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum starting on 15 January is being held against the backdrop of escalating tensions in West Asia amid the continuing Israel-Hamas war, new shocks to supply chains, growing threats from climate change, and emerging risks from the increasing application of artificial intelligence. As always, more than 100 governments, including heads of state, will attend the meeting, which is being convened under the theme ‘Rebuilding Trust’.

Some 2,500 delegates are expected to congregate at Davos and the adjoining village of Klosters. India is represented by a few Union ministers, chief ministers and dozens of businessmen and top professionals. The prime minister attends the meeting some years.

It is perhaps the only event where heads of state and governments, top businessmen, global institutions and civil society come together from across the world to discuss pressing global issues and appropriate responses. Given the profile of delegates that congregate for the five-day meeting, it provides an unrivalled opportunity to all to network and establish contacts to further business relationships. The World Economic Forum offers a platform for governments and businessmen to share their vision and hard-sell business and investment opportunities in their home country.