(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will top the list of global leaders heading to Davos next week as the World Economic Forum returns in winter for the first time since before the Covid pandemic.
(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will top the list of global leaders heading to Davos next week as the World Economic Forum returns in winter for the first time since before the Covid pandemic.
U.S. President Joe Biden won’t attend the annual gathering of financial and political elites, and nor will his predecessor, Donald Trump. Instead, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be in the Swiss mountain town for the Jan. 16-20 event.
Nineteen central bank heads and 56 finance ministers will also figure among participants as more than 2,700 politicians, executives, bankers and academics discuss “cooperation in a fragmented world,” with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the energy crisis it exacerbated continuing to create uncertainty.
“The annual meeting at Davos wants to make sure that leaders do not remain trapped in a crisis mindset,” WEF founder Klaus Schwab told a news conference about the meeting on Tuesday. “Only personal interaction creates the necessary level of trust which we need so much in our fragmented and fractured world.”
Scholz will be the only Group of Seven leader present. He will use his speech to underline his determination to speed up the shift toward renewable energies and keep up support for Ukraine for as long as it takes. He’s also expected to hammer home his message that Europe and the US should resist falling into an old “Cold War” mindset of block-building. This comes as Germany is seen heading into recession as businesses and households grapple with record inflation.
Recession Risks
Attendees will include some 1,500 business leaders, with more than 600 chief executive officers representing sectors ranging from financial services, energy, materials and infrastructure to information and communication technologies.
Other top names include the leaders of the European Commission, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the European Central Bank and NATO.
They gather as concerns linger over high energy prices and inflation. Though prices may have peaked in some countries, a return to a slower pace is posing challenges, with central banks still raising interest rates. That in turn has sparked concerns about an economic slowdown, with markets betting on contractions in both the US and euro area.
The World Bank slashed its growth forecasts for most countries and regions on Tuesday, and warned that new adverse shocks could tip the global economy into a recession.
–With assistance from Michael Nienaber.
(Updates with additional attendees, starting in sixth paragraph)
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