One can argue about the meaning and purpose of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Is it still up to date to cart more than 2000 participants to the Swiss Alps for just under a week to announce alliances in the fight against climate change?

The brief answer to the question of meaning is: Yes, open personal exchange is even more important than ever in times when the existing world order has faltered in several places.

Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck had to hear from the Indian delegation that their willingness to buy Russian energy sources was closely related to the fact that Germany was currently buying the liquid gas market empty.

Anyone who has to operate air conditioning systems against the heat wave and produce fertilizers against the food crisis does not ask about circumstances.

The first finding from Davos is that there will be no complete economic isolation of Russia.

As shocking as Russia's brutal war of aggression may seem to Europeans, armed conflicts are part of sad everyday life in other parts of the world.

reconstruction of Ukraine

Many Ukrainian politicians used the Davos stage to reinforce their calls for arms supplies.

In many circles, however, it was also about the reconstruction of the oppressed country.

It will be a gigantic project to build a modern state on top of the rubble, as brave Ukrainians would like it to be.

When and if at all the aggressor from Moscow can be used for reparations is anyone's guess.

So it will be primarily up to the western world to tackle this task.

Many more have yet to follow the US $40 billion package.

However, Beijing's lockdown policy could have the most lasting consequences for the global economy.

Even if production is slowly starting up again in some of the country's factories, China's rigid crackdown can still be expensive.

Beijing has revealed that it does not hesitate for a moment to assert its interests with all its might.

Refugees abroad have already begun among young, qualified Chinese.

The system has broken with its promise of prosperity, which until now has largely replaced that of political participation.

Cluster risk China

Foreign companies are also working hard to find alternative production locations in Asia in order to reduce the concentration risk in China.

This is a great opportunity for his neighbors.

Indian interlocutors were in demand in the Alps.

The situation is more difficult for companies when the Middle Kingdom plays a major role as a sales market, such as for German car manufacturers or the world's largest chemical group, BASF.

The Volkswagen boss in Davos also openly declared that he could not afford to downshift in the world's largest car market.

However, the Wolfsburg also presented their growth strategy for the USA.

This leads to the third finding: globalization is not dead. In a world based on the division of labour, no one can isolate themselves completely.

But it will change and is already doing so.

The trade conflicts of the Trump era already prompted multinational corporations to concentrate within the large economic blocs in order to become less sensitive to punitive tariffs between world regions.

Current supply chain issues are accelerating change.

The economic guiding principle of cost optimization, the prevailing management maxim of the past decades, has had competition.

The resilience of strategically important components in particular comes to the fore.

But bringing production back against economic calculations costs money and calls politicians into action.

Greetings from the EU Commission's Chips Act.

Profound remodeling

And funds are scarce.

Because the fight against climate change means nothing less than the far-reaching restructuring of entire economic systems.

The sums required are so enormous that no serious price tag can be attached.

In addition, current developments such as rampant inflation are forcing the welfare states to cushion the hardest consequences for the weakest with increasing social spending.

In countries that cannot afford this compensation, famine threatens to endanger political stability.

Not so long ago, the global community had hoped to experience a strong economic upswing in 2022, but many issues in Davos were similar to the weather: gray and uncomfortable.

It is all the more important to keep in touch.