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It was this Tuesday, January 21, 2020, that opened in Davos, a small ski resort in the Swiss Alps, the fiftieth edition of the World Economic Forum where big bosses, political leaders and personalities from civil society got into the habit to meet again each year at the end of January to try to improve the state of the world. And, this year, the watchword is a call for " a more united and sustainable world ", when social unrest did not spare any continent in 2019.
A theme is essential, this year in Davos , that of the climate emergency and yet it is a climatosceptic, Donald Trump, who inaugurated the forum. The American president is the guest of honor of this 50th edition of the Davos forum and even if the climate emergency is on everyone's mind, it is not the big bosses who will bring him the contradiction on this file. They have indeed other concerns in mind trade conflicts, geopolitical tensions and especially the volatility of the economy which compromises their development prospects. The environment is no longer even one of their top ten reasons for concern!
The contradiction will come from elsewhere. An hour after the intervention of Donald Trump, up to Greta Thunberg. For the second consecutive year, the young Swedish activist travels to Davos to urge the international community and especially the business world to act in the face of the climate emergency. Two visions of the world were therefore displayed for this first day. But after all Davos is also a bit like that, bringing together in one place personalities that everything opposes with a single objective, as displayed everywhere the forum, " improve the state of the world ".
Many absent
For this 50th anniversary, two distinguished guests, but also many absent. For the second year in a row, no British Prime Minister to boast about the investment opportunities in the UK before the big bosses, Brexit has left its mark. French President Emmanuel Macron will also not be visiting Davos. It is true that he was able to praise, at the beginning of the week, at Versailles the attractiveness of France in front of those who count in the world of industry.
More surprisingly, King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan, long-time regulars, did not make the trip. As for the big emerging, the Chinese Xi Jinping, the Russian Vladimir Poutine or the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro shine by their absence. And above all, almost no African head of state is in Davos this year when we used to meet the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda or Guinea.
A gloomy conjuncture
It is true that the economic outlook and the instability that spares no continent weigh on this 50th edition. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has once again revised its forecasts for global growth downwards. And in 2021, it anticipates a very slow recovery. Moreover Ghita Gopinath, the chief economist of the IMF warned, Monday, in Davos the leaders on the political choices that they will have to make: " The social unrest resumed quite suddenly in 2019, almost everywhere in the world. There is no single explanation for these disorders. The reason was not the same in Chile or Hong Kong. It was even very different . ” Ghita Gopinath added: “ In any case, it is important to recognize that social spending must be well targeted, so that the most vulnerable are well protected. Countries must ensure that the growth and rebound that we anticipate is shared fairly. "
This gloomy situation worries the big bosses gathered in Davos. This is reflected in the study published earlier this week by the audit firm PwC which, for 23 years, has measured the morale of multinational executives. Only 22% of them believe, in fact, that growth will improve in the coming months against 57% last year.
A concern that is reflected in their activity since their confidence in an improvement in their turnover is also in sharp decline. This makes Bernard Gainnier, the president of PwC France and French-speaking Africa, say that “ for two years, the rate of pessimism has increased very widely. A rate similar to the pre-crisis situation of 2008. This inevitably questions: Are we facing a crisis that is emerging? ".
One thing is certain, this year again the big bosses will limit their investments, which does not bode well for the world economy.
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