Dubai, UAE–More than 1,500 business leaders from across the world, including 150 CEOs and 100 innovators, will descend onto the frozen Swiss valley town of Davos next week to offer their suggestions on how to end the world’s problems.
The annual summit of the non-profit World Economic Forum (WEF) will begin on January 16 and go on until January 20, 2023. Though an annual summit was organized last year in the summer, this is the first post-pandemic summit that returns to its usual time when the freezing temperatures are no match for the heated panel discussions inside the congress center.
Being held under the theme of Cooperation in the Fragmented World, this year’s Davos Summit will convene more than 2,700 leaders from 130 countries including 52 heads of state/government. A large number of women business leaders are also expected to attend the 2023 annual meeting.
In a virtual press conference yesterday, WEF President Børge Brende said that as we live in an increasingly divided world, the WEF attendees will work toward finding solutions for a more cohesive world so that economic growth could be achieved even in challenging environments.
Economic growth fuels prosperity, creates jobs, reduces poverty, and enables governments and businesses to invest in their communities, he said, adding that the WEF’s focus would be sustainable economic growth where our natural environment is not compromised.
Keeping sustainable economic growth as its focal point, the WEF also announced the signing of an MoU with the UAE for the COP28 event in Dubai at Expo City from November 30 until December 12, 2023.
Experts from the WEF and the UAE decision-makers will work together for the Global Climate Summit which is geared toward finding solutions to environmental challenges.
On his part, Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF Klaus Schwab said in a statement: “We see the manifold political, economic, and social forces creating increased fragmentation on a global and national level. To address the root causes of this erosion of trust, we need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery. At the same time, there must be the recognition that economic development needs to be made more resilient, more sustainable and nobody should be left behind.”