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Contact: Mark Adams
Managing Director, Head of Communications
Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212
Fax: +41 (0)22 869 1394
mark.adams@weforum.org
http://www.weforum.org
Davos, Switzerland, 27 January 2008 – The World Economic
Forum Annual Meeting 2008 closed today with a call by business,
government and civil society leaders for a new brand of collaborative
and innovative leadership to address the challenges of globalization,
particularly the pressing problems of conflict – especially
in the Middle East, terrorism, climate change and water conservation.
“Globalization is forcing changes in how people collaborate
in a fundamental way,” said former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, a Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic
Forum and one of the Co-Chairs of the Annual Meeting 2008, at
the closing plenary session. “You need stronger and stronger
collaborative political leadership.” Concluded Blair: “If
we are interconnected and the world is interconnected, the only
way for the world to work is to have a set of common values.
We have no option but to work together.”
Other panellists agreed, arguing that the biggest challenge
for the world is to determine the values that underpin globalization.
“Globalization is not going to go away – the question
is what kind of globalization do we have,” said Daniel Yergin,
Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). According
to Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo
and an Annual Meeting Co-Chair, companies today have to be engaged
in society, particularly on environmental issues. It is critical
to running a business. “You cannot hold on to your employees
emotionally unless you have good environmental programmes.”
Companies “really do believe we should be good corporate
citizens,” asserted another Co-Chair, James Dimon, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of international banking group JPMorgan
Chase & Co.
This is true even in emerging economies such as India, Dimon’s
fellow Co-Chair K. V. Kamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive
Officer of India’s ICICI Bank, observed. More and more companies
are living up to their environmental responsibilities, particularly
in developing affordable, yet eco-friendly products and services.
“That’s the only way. There’s a new path, and
that path needs to be explored.”
Panellists also expressed hope that a resolution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be reached by the end of
2008. “I am confident that we will have a resolution this
year,” said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, who
is Professor in the Humanities at Boston University. “This
is a 60-year old war; both sides are tired. Enough funerals,
enough tears, enough sorrow.” Fellow Annual Meeting Co-Chair
Wang Jianzhou, Chairman and Chief Executive of China Mobile Communications
Corporation, called on participants to embrace the ideals expressed
by the motto of the 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing:
“One world, one dream.” Said Wang: “All countries,
industries and companies should contribute to a peaceful and
harmonious world.”
“We have tremendous challenges ahead,” said Klaus
Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic
Forum, summing up the Annual Meeting 2008. “The mood was
moderately optimistic because we have many, many opportunities
ahead.” Concluded Schwab: “The Davos Man and Woman
are aware of all the challenges and, in a pragmatic way, they
do what they can to mitigate the risks and address the challenges.
They also see the opportunities in the world. But if we don’t
address the challenges, even the greatest opportunities will
not be enough to guarantee the future of humankind.”
Among the key announcements and achievements that emerged
from the Annual Meeting 2008 are the following:
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates, Irish musician Bono, H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon, World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman
Klaus Schwab, Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and
Cisco Systems Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John T. Chambers
issued a joint statement vowing to make 2008 a turning point
in the fight against poverty. The world is facing a "development
emergency”, they said, pledging to “work together to
help the world get back on track to meet the Millennium Development
Goals."
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveiled a five-year, US$
10 billion fund to support efforts in developing countries to
combat global warming – a move to ensure that top priority
is given to climate change at this year’s G8 Summit in Hokkaido.
In addition, Japan aims to create a new multilateral fund with
the US and the UK to mitigate changes in the earth’s climate
as a result of global warming.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a US$ 306 million
package of agricultural development grants “designed to
boost the yields and incomes of millions of small farmers in
Africa and other parts of the developing world so they can lift
themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty.”
The World Economic Forum launched a landmark report on the interfaith
dialogue between Muslim and Western societies. Islam and the
West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue was the result of
in-depth research and polling in more than 40 countries. The
report is intended to be an annual global reference on the state
of dialogue among faiths that will elevate the visibility of
dialogue around the world and strengthen efforts to advance greater
understanding.
The Forum conducted an experiment with the online video website
YouTube, asking people from around the world to answer “The
Davos Question” ? What one thing do you think that countries,
companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place
in 2008? More than 2 million people took part, and business,
government and civil society leaders from the Annual Meeting
posted replies. Among those submitting video responses: President
Shimon Peres of Israel; President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal;
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan; former US Secretary of
State Henry A. Kissinger; and rock star Bono. The resulting global
conversation may be viewed at www.youtube.com/Davos.
The World Economic Forum, Forum Member companies and the United
Nations launched initiatives to facilitate further and deeper
private sector support of humanitarian relief operations. Among
the programmes: Agility, TNT and UPS, three leading logistics
and transport companies, are joining forces to help the humanitarian
sector with emergency response to large-scale natural disasters.
The World Economic Forum released the first part of the most
comprehensive investigations into private equity: The Globalization
of Alternative Investments Working Papers Volume 1: The Global
Economic Impact of Private Equity Report 2008. The study focuses
on the demography of global private equity deals, the willingness
of private equity-backed firms to make long-term investments
globally, and the impact of private equity investments on the
employment levels of firms in the US and corporate governance
in the UK.
Rwanda was designated as the launch country for a pilot programme
for the Forum’s Global Education Initiative (GEI). In partnership
with the Education For All Fast-Track Initiative (FTI) under
the banner of the Global Education Alliance (GEA), the Forum
will provide the platform to combine the strengths of the private
sector and foundations to achieve education for all in low-income
countries.
Mayors, regional governors and the private sector launched the
World Economic Forum’s SlimCity Initiative, an exchange
programme between cities and the private sector to support action
on resource efficiency in urban areas, focusing on energy, water,
waste, mobility, planning, health and climate change.
Fourteen global CEOs and company chairmen, representing a range
of industries and regions, issued a call to their peers to join
collaborative efforts to strengthen public governance frameworks
and institutions as a core element of their approach to corporate
citizenship.
Notes to Editors
Everything about the Annual Meeting 2008: http://www.weforum.org/annualmeeting
Press Kit for the Annual Meeting: http://www.weforum.org/presskit
Programme of the Annual Meeting: http://www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/programme
Summaries of key sessions: http://www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/summaries2008
High-resolution photos of the Annual Meeting, free of charge:
http://www.swiss-image.ch/Y249M7AC/INDEX.htm
Key Davos snippets on Twitter: http://twitter.com/davos
Live Webcasts of Annual Meeting sessions: http://www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/webcasts
The Davos debates on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/worldeconomicforum
The Davos Conversation: http://www.davosconversation.org
Video responses to The Davos Question: http://www.youtube.com/thedavosquestion
The World Economic Forum Group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2440681615
The Davos Universe: http://www2.netvibes.com/davosconversation
For further questions, e-mail: davosconversation@weforum.org.
Press Releases: http://www.weforum.org/pressrelease
For updates about the activities of the World Economic Forum,
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