Why is Davos the Annual Venue for the WEF?

Context

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is taking place in Davos from January 16 until January 20, 2023.

Probable Question

Why is Davos the annual venue for the WEF? Explain the significance of the annual meeting. (10 Marks, 150 Words)

WEF’s 2023 annual meet at Davos

• The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is taking place in Davos from January 16 until January 20, 2023.
• This year’s conference will see more than 2,700 leaders from 130 countries, including 52 heads of state and government.
• The theme is “cooperation in a fragmented world” and within that are five sub-themes,
  • Energy and food crises
  • Inflation
  • Technology for innovation
  • Social vulnerabilities
  • Geopolitical risks
• The WEF annual meeting in Davos engages the world's top leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
• India sent a contingent with four Union ministers — Ashwini Vaishnav, Mansukh Mandaviya, Smriti Irani, and RK Singh, as well as Chief Ministers BS Bommai, and Yogi Adityanath to the annual meet. 

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Key points of the Annual Summit

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda via video conferencing.
• Key points include:
  • One Earth, One Health- India followed the vision of “One Earth, One Health” during the COVID19 Pandemic, and saved many lives by exporting essential medicines and vaccines.
  • Pro-Planet People (P3) Approach- India proposed the idea of the “P3 (Pro-Planet-People) movement” that underscores India’s commitments to climate change at the global forum (UNFCCC COP 26).
  • Reforms undertaken by India:
    • India has the world's largest, safe and successful digital payments platform. In the last month alone, 4.4 billion transactions have taken place in India through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
    • India has the third largest number of unicorns in the world.
    • In 2014, there were a few hundred registered startups in India. Today, their number has crossed 60,000 with more than 10,000 registered in the last six months. 
    • More than 50 lakh software developers are working in the country today.
    • India is promoting Ease of Doing Business, minimizing government intervention.
    • Gatishakti National Master Plan to bring all the stakeholders on the single platform to infuse new dynamism to the seamless connectivity of goods, people and services.
    • Optical fiber connectivity in 6 lakh villages, 1.3 trillion dollars invested in connectivity-related infrastructure.
    • Simplification of corporate tax rates and making them the most competitive in the world. 
    • India has deregulated areas like Drones, Space, Geo-spatial mapping and has brought reforms in the outdated telecom regulation related with the IT and BPO sectors.
    • Incentivizing investment and production- 26 billion dollar worth of Production Linked Incentive schemes in 14 sectors.

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Reasons behind choosing Davos as location for WEF’s annual meet

• Davos, a ski resort, and the annual host of WEF’s meeting is a quaint town located on the lap of the Swiss Alps. 
• The place has philosophical significance for the founder of WEF, i.e., Klaus Schwab.
• Davos was the setting for Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain. The book is the story of a young man who goes to Davos to stay at a sanatorium for three weeks and ends up spending seven years there.
• Davos seeks to have a similar impact on world leaders. Relaxed in its serene environs, it seeks to cut through the many distractions of global politics to succeed in its mission to create a more prosperous global economy.
• However, its salience goes far beyond discussions on economic issues. In the past, it has been used as a location for pivotal international diplomacy. For instance, in 1988 Greece and Turkey avoided war, when the two signed the now famous Davos Declaration.

Participants of the meeting

• Davos brings together some 3,000 paying members and selected participants – among whom are investors, business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists – for up to five days to discuss global issues across 500 sessions. 
• Davos restricts access that journalists get to the event. While over 500 journalists flock to Davos annually, most get “orange badges” – which restrict their movement to more public fora.
• A white badge means you’re one of the delegates – you might be the chief executive of a company or the leader of a country, or a senior journalist. An orange badge means you’re just a run-of-the-mill working journalist.

About the World Economic Forum (WEF)

• World Economic Forum (WEF)is a non-governmental lobbying organization founded by Swiss-German economist and Professor Klaus Scwab in 1971. 
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance.
• The WEF is largely funded by its partnering corporations. These are generally global enterprises with annual turnover greater than $ 5 billion. 
• WEF provides a platform “to shape the future, accessing networks and experts to ensure strategic decision-making on the most pressing world issues”.
• WEF also partners with public subsidies.
• Some of the major reports published by the WEF:
  • Global Competitiveness Report
  • Energy Transition Index
  • Global IT Report- along with INSEAD and Cornell University.
  • Global Risk Report
  • Global Gender Gap Report
  • GLobal Travel and Tourism Report

Frequently Asked Questions

News Source: Indian Express

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/davos-2023-interesting-facts-about-the-event-8385623/

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