Davos World Economic Forum: Davos Summit 2010, 40th Anniversary

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Davos Annual Meeting 2010 - Klaus Schwab

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sourced by Sudha Krishna

The Davos World Economic Forum marks its 40h Anniversary at a time when faith in large economic institutions and the people who run them, is at an all time low, and so too it seems is the interest in Davos.

The theme of the Davos Summit this year is Improve The State of the World:Rethink, Redesign, and Rebuild.  Twenty-five hundred  participants from 90 countries- world leaders, CEO"s, Celebrities, Media,  NGOs, and leading academics - will gather for 5 days in Switzerland to figure out exactly how to improve the state of the world says Professor Karl Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

“We have to look at the Meeting in the context of what’s happening in the world … and we see that, clearly, the present system of global cooperation is not working sufficiently. So we want to look at all issues on the global agenda in a systemic, integrated and strategic way, and we want to address in particular the issue of global cooperation. This is the reason why our Annual Meeting this year is tailored around the need to rethink, redesign and rebuild.”

The future of Haiti in the aftermath of its devastating earthquake will also be on the agenda: “We hope that we can present a major common effort to the world community showing true corporate global citizenship in Davos,” Professor Schwab said.

However, this year post-Wall Street melt down it seems the bloom has worn off the Davos Economic Forum. It opens on the day of a highly anticipated State of the Union speech by President Obama who has been increasing the distance between his administration and "leading financial institutions and their CEOs." especially with his recent banking reform proposals

The highest ranking U.S. official to attend (not counting former president Bill Clinton) is the chair of the National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers. Also, absent from Davos in 2010 are those headline generating celebrities like Angelina Jolie or the swank parties thrown by the likes of Google.

Combine that with a general sentiment to have a more sober summit in the wake of the Haiti earthquake and the 40the anniversary of the world economic forum will be a subdued affair.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (not known for his inspiring or electric speeches) will be the keynote speaker - sober and somber indeed.