Ukraine, Middle East and Taiwan overshadow annual meeting at Davos, with artificial intelligence also high on agenda
Growing concern that heightened geopolitical tension could damage an already shaky global economy has dominated the start of the annual gathering of the world’s business and political elite in Davos, Switzerland.
Three potential flash points – Ukraine, the Middle East and Taiwan – threatened to overshadow the meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) aimed at rebuilding trust after the series of setbacks suffered in the past four years, including war, the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
Meanwhile, a study of global business leaders to mark the start of the gathering in the Swiss mountain resort showed UK chief executives embracing generative artificial intelligence more rapidly than their peers in other countries.
France’s Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, are all scheduled to address the WEF this week, as is Argentina’s new president Javier Milei.
With Middle East tensions rising, the US is sending its secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the its national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, to Davos. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is also attending, as are the prime ministers of Iraq, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Jordan, Bisher al-Khasawneh, and Iran’s minister of foreign affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
The UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, and his Labour shadow, Rachel Reeves, are both speaking at this year’s event. Hunt’s predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, is also attending.
