Davos Forum: online meetings on “A Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust”. Guterres, Xi Jinping, Merkel among the guests

The 2021 edition of the World Economic Forum in Davos has started today. It, too, is being held online, so the big names, those who usually arrive in the small Swiss Alpine town, will attend and speak remotely this year. The focus, of course, is on the pandemic and the title: “A Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust”. Every day, the pandemic will be addressed from a different perspective. Today’s session started with a discussion on “Designing cohesive, sustainable and resilient economic systems”; tomorrow, the focus will be on the “Industrial sector”. Then discussion will focus on the “Stewardship of our global commons” on Wednesday; on “Harnessing the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” on Thursday; and, finally, on “Advancing global and regional cooperation” on Friday. The leaders who will take the floor today include Chinese President Xi Jinping and, later this afternoon, the UN Secretary General António Guterres. Other key speakers in the following days are Ursula von der Leyen, Christine Lagarde, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Pedro Sanchez and, from outside Europe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Paul Kagame from Rwanda. They will be joined in the virtual debates and round tables by other leaders from the economic, industrial and academic worlds, who will offer their insights into seven sub-themes: Planet; Fairer Economies; Tech for Good; Better Business, Future of Work; Healthy Futures; and Beyond Geopolitics.
Valentina Bombelli