Davos 2024: On Day Two, Zelenskyy, Li steal the limelight

The World Economic Forum started its main business on Tuesday with a focus on as more leaders from around the globe assembled at the snow-clad Swiss resort to discuss challenges and crises facing the world. On the second day, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese Premier Li Qiang stole the limelight, while Donald Trump was another talk of the town subject for his resounding victory in Iowa caucuses and the prospect of him returning to the White House. The overarching theme of Rebuilding Trust got voice at the opening plenary with WEF founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab said the occasion should be used as an opportunity to rebuild trust and cooperation in each other.

Issues travel without passports At the first plenary of the , Schwab said the world today may be more connected geographically but it is also a lot more divided and fragmented. “We are also seeing unprecedented risks on technology front,” he said. WEF president Borge Brende added, “The most urgent issues faced by companies and countries including on security, climate and cyberspace are not limited by borders.

They do travel without passports. ” War and politics Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy huddled with corporate executives and world leaders including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Davos. Zelenskyy said if anyone thinks the war in Ukraine is only about Ukraine they are fundamentally wrong.

“It is very important to be here, to boost investment in Ukraine and support our economy,” Zelenskyy said at an invitation-only “CEOs for Ukraine” session. Meanwhile, Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the concentration on Houthi strikes in the Red Sea is like “focusing on the symptoms and not treating the real issue” of Israel’s war on Hamas. “We should focus on the main conflict in Gaza.

And as soon as it’s defused, I believe everything else will be defused,” he said. Li’s surprise Chinese premier Li Qiang surprised Davos with a huge high-level delegation. The entourage is said to have at least 150 members and another 100 or so from the Chinese business community.

He focused on pitching the country as a place to invest, saying “we are opening wide our embrace. ” Li reiterated pledges to improve the environment for foreign firms in China. India at the summit India’s petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that India is making a transition to sustainability so as to deliver basic welfare to a large and growing population amidst the multiple crises the world is facing.

Addressing at a CII-EY breakfast session ‘Energy amid Rivalry’, Puri said that has never allowed to undermine or dilute its commitment to sustainability and green energy transition. A premature bet Market expectations for rapid interest rate cuts are a bit premature because the battle against inflation isn’t yet over, International Monetary Fund’s first deputy managing director Gita Gopinath said. “We should expect rates to come down some time this year, but based on the data we see right now, we expect this to be more likely in the second half of this year.

” European Central Bank Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said economic transformations including the fight against climate change will mean higher rates in the longer term. Davos buzzword: AI AI is already a strong contender for Davos buzzword of the year. From political leaders to corporate mandarins, the central focus of their talks was artificial intelligence.

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said her company has 150 people signed up to do workshops on AI rather than attend panels. “There isn’t an area, there’s not an industry that’s not going to be impacted,” she added. China’s Li said that a “red line” must be drawn in the development of AI to ensure that the technology benefits society and not just ‘small group of people’.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said “Europe must up its game” on AI, as the bloc readies landmark legislation to curb possible AI abuse. A caution for AI in finance Safeguards are needed for using artificial intelligence in financial services to ensure data is accurate and reliable, but only after the opportunities from AI have been identified, London Stock Exchange Group CEO David Schwimmer said at the forum. “It’s important to have some regulatory guard rails around the use of AI, including verifiability of data,” Schwimmer said.

But Charlotte Hogg, CEO of Visa’s European operations, said a rush to regulate AI could freeze innovation. “I don’t think we should have the regulatory structure of the grave, but of course we should have regulatory involvement,” Hogg added. Stability vs regulations AI is a major topic at Davos, with a key talk by Microsoft Corp.

CEO Satya Nadella saying he doesn’t want greater control over OpenAI as European and UK regulators consider probes of the deep ties between the two companies. “What we just want is good stability,” he said in an interview to Bloomberg . Colour of your badge It’s all about the colour, in Davos.

The colour of your badge will decide your position on the high table. The forum will discriminate you with six main hues. The most important people get white badges with a hologram, giving them access to all areas, including ultra-exclusive back rooms.

Those badges are reserved for heads of states, CEOs or very top media executives. Official delegates will have a plain white badge, while members of their entourage get green ones. Orange badges are reserved for journalists, and purple badges are given to the technical teams.

Blue badges, meanwhile, are worn by WEF staff. : Google reception, wine tasting with SecurityScorecard, Green Night by the Institute of Sustainability and Technology and the LGBTQ leaders’ dinner. With inputs from agencies Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world to know more.

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