By
Zale Chen, YAIC Weekly
February 16, 2013
Davos 2013─Welcoming Address by the Executive Chairman
For over 40 years, the World Economic Forum (the WEF, or the Davos) has served as a global platform where selected politicians, representatives from academia, chief executives and leaders from all walks of life gather together to exchange ideas regarding global issues. The WEF is held in Davos, Switzerland in every January.
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| the World Economic Forum |
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| the Davos, Switzerland |
Founded
in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a business professor at the University of Geneva, the WEF
was originally named as the “European Management Forum”. Later in 1987, it
changed its name into the “World Economic Forum” with the ambition to provide a
platform for discussing global issues and trying to find resolutions. Moreover,
it broadened its focus from management to economic, social and political
issues.
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| Professor Klaus Schwab |
The
mission of the WEF is fully manifested in its motto: “committed to improving
the state of the world.”
“The
World Economic Forum is not a decision-making body. It is a platform for
initiatives, programs and taskforces. It gives each of our participants the
possibility to shape their own opinion based on the latest strategic insights,”
said Schwab.
This
year, the WEF lasted from Jan.23 to Jan.27 with the theme of “Resilient
Dynamism”. Defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “resilience” means the
ability to become strong, healthy or successful after something bad happens and
“dynamism” refers to the energy and strong desire to make something happen.
Therefore,
the purpose of the WEF 2013 annual meeting: “Resilience Dynamism” was to calling
upon leaders and people to shove worries aside and root out outdated ideas in
order to be brave to develop future plans for changes and to keep moving
forward.
In
2012 annual meeting, the WEF focused much on the issue of the European debt
crisis. However, through the economic development last year, the European debt
crisis has eased up. The 2013 annual meeting therefore concentrated more on the
fiscal cliff in the United States, the possibility of war of exchange rate in
Asia, the role Mainland China plays in global economy and the threats the emerging
economics has brought to the environment.
Also,
according to Global Risk Report 2013
released by the WEF, the global society is now faced with three major risks
which are: wealth gap (severe income disparity), unsustainable government debt
(chronic fiscal imbalances) and rising greenhouse gas emissions.
This
generation is the most complicated and yet interconnected one in the human
history in which we are faced with dreadful challenges as financial crisis and
value conflicts. As Schwab said, leaders in 2013 should be both “resilient” and
“dynamic” to face these challenges. Through the WEF, we could make more people
be aware of these global issues and make changes to improve the state of the
world in 2013.
References:
Executive Summary, World
Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
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