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THE UNITED STATES, SWITZERLAND, DENMARK AND SWEDEN TAKE THE LEAD IN THE RANKINGS OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM.S GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX
Germany, Singapore, Japan and the United Kingdom among the top ten
Geneva, Switzerland, 31 October 2007 - The United States tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008, released today by the World Economic Forum. Switzerland is in second position followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Singapore, respectively. Chile is the highest ranked country in Latin America, followed by Mexico and Costa Rica. China and India continue to lead the way among large developing economies. Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In sub-Saharan Africa, only South Africa and Mauritius feature in the top half of the rankings, with several countries from the region positioned at the very bottom. Click here to read the highlights of the report."The United States confirms its position as the most competitive economy in the world. The efficiency of the country.s markets, the sophistication of its business community, the impressive capacity for technological innovation that exists within a first-rate system of universities and research centres, all contribute to making the United States a highly competitive economy. However, some weaknesses, particularly related to macroeconomic imbalances, continue to present a risk to the country.s overall competitiveness potential, and to the global economy as a whole. This danger has most recently been demonstrated by the fallout and contagion caused by the country.s sub-prime mortgage crisis and the ensuing global credit crunch," said Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics at Columbia University and Co-Editor of the Report.
The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report. This year, over 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 131 countries. The survey is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy's business climate. The Report also includes comprehensive listings of the main strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify key priorities for policy reform.
"Economic policy, especially at the microeconomic level, needs to set priorities that reflect the most important constraints to competitiveness in each country. The GCR enables countries to move beyond abstract theoretical policy debates and identify the specific tasks ahead of them," explained Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School Professor, and Co-Director of the Report.
"In an uncertain global financial environment it is more important than ever for countries to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development. The World Economic Forum has for many years played a facilitating role in this process by providing detailed assessments of the productive potential of nations worldwide. The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 offers policy-makers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation of improved economic policies and institutional reforms," noted Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
Download the full Global Competitiveness Rankings (PDF or Excel)
The Global Competitiveness Report's overall competitiveness ranking is the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), developed for the World Economic Forum by Columbia University Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin and originally introduced in 2004. This year's GCI has been refined based on testing and expert feedback. The GCI is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, providing a comprehensive picture of the competitiveness landscape in countries around the world at all stages of development. The pillars include: Institutions, Infrastructure, Macroeconomic Stability, Health and Primary Education, Higher Education and Training, Goods Market Efficiency, Labor Market Efficiency, Financial Market Sophistication, Technological Readiness, Market Size, Business Sophistication and Innovation.
A second part of the Report provides a more detailed examination of the microeconomic aspects of competitiveness, presented in the Business Competitiveness Index (BCI) led by Professor Porter. Countries that do well on the GCI also tend to do well on the BCI but there are some important differences. "Many countries have achieved progress by opening up to the world economy, stabilizing macroeconomic policies and removing internal barriers to competition. Our findings reveal the need to build underlying microeconomic competitiveness to translate these gains into sustained prosperity. If improvements in the business environment and company sophistication fail to materialize . and they often require significant shifts in company and country . nations expose themselves to declining competitiveness and are vulnerable to economic and social risks," said Professor Porter. The BCI finds many European countries, especially Switzerland, Norway and Spain, to have wages much above the level supported by their competitiveness. The BCI rankings and subindexes on company operations and strategy, and business environment quality are found in Chapter 1.2 of the Report entitled "The Microeconomic Foundations of Prosperity: Findings from the Business Competitiveness Index", which can be accessed online at www.weforum.org/gcr.
The World Economic Forum continues to expand geographic coverage in the Report. Featuring a total of 131 countries, this year's Report is the most comprehensive of its type. Coverage has been expanded to Puerto Rico, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Syria and Uzbekistan. In addition, Serbia and Montenegro, previously analysed as a single country, are now included separately.
The Report contains a detailed country/economy profile for each of the 131 economies featured in the study, providing a comprehensive summary of the overall position in the rankings as well as the most prominent competitive advantages and competitive disadvantages of each country/economy based on the analysis used in computing the rankings. Also included is an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 110 indicators. (Click on the picture to watch a 6-minute video with the Forum.s senior economist Jennifer Blanke)
This year's Report also includes a number of discussions of selected countries including Germany, Malaysia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates, providing an in-depth analysis of the issues affecting national competitiveness.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org)
If you do not want to receive further information about the World Economic Forum, click here.
HEALTH ISSUES PROMINENT ON DALIAN AGENDA
Health issues are a key focus of the World Economic Forum.s Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions - the "Summer Davos"
Dalian, People's Republic of China, 4 September 2007 - Health issues are a growing concern among today.s business leaders, and will take centre stage at the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, People.s Republic of China, from 6 to 8 September 2007. Finding innovative solutions to the challenges of infectious pandemics and chronic diseases is key to ensuring long-term economic development and the well being of nations worldwide. The Inaugural Annual Meeting, held in close cooperation with the government of the People's Republic of China, will bring together the next generation of business leaders with today.s global business leaders to examine how this new community can address current global challenges."More than ever it is critical for all stakeholders, including the next generation of leaders, to join forces to address global health issues such as rising healthcare costs, the devastating effects of AIDS, the rising burden of chronic diseases and innovations in healthcare," said Jean-Pierre Rosso, Chairman of the Forum's Centre of Global Industries. "Until we address these issues together, we will not be able to develop the appropriate global, multifaceted solutions these complex problems require."
To facilitate discussions on these vital matters, the Health Team of the World Economic Forum has designed a special programme for the Meeting in Dalian - Health@Dalian. The programme consists of a series of public and private sessions that will take place as a part of the overall Meeting in Dalian. The aim of Health@Dalian is to stimulate collaboration and action on global health problems, including chronic and infectious diseases, and will focus on the role businesses can play in addressing these issues. Health@Dalian reflects the World Economic Forum.s ongoing commitment to engaging in the global health arena and to crafting innovative solutions to tackle these issues.
Specifically, the Health@Dalian agenda will cover the following topics:
- The Business Case for Tackling AIDS
- The Future of Healthcare and Pensions in China
- Facing a Dual Burden: Prevention of Chronic Diseases
- Healthcare Innovation in Emerging Markets
- New Frontiers in Biotechnology and Nanotechnology
The Forum has worked in close partnership with the Chinese government on this issue through the China Health Alliance (CHA), which brings together government, business, NGOs and international organizations to address the problem through workplace programmes.
In the Health@Dalian programme, key CHA partners, including Accenture, Becton Dickinson & Company, NovaMed Pharmaceuticals, Standard Chartered Bank, UNAIDS, UNDP and the WHO, will provide their perspective on health issues and the benefits of working in alliances to address the topics.
"Global health issues, such as AIDS, are becoming more prominent and there is urgent need for public-private partnership," explained Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). "The World Economic Forum and the Ministry of Health in China have created a powerful platform for discussions, which we hope will get us one step closer to the solutions we need."
Note to Editors
For more information on Health@Dalian and the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions, please visit: www.weforum.org/events/AnnualMeetingoftheNewChampions
For further information contact:
Janet Craven
Ketchum PR
Telephone: +44 207 611 3638
Mobile: +44 79146 10606
E-mail: Janet.Craven@ketchum.com
About the Health Team at the World Economic Forum
The Health Team of the World Economic Forum offers members and partner companies of the World Economic Forum the opportunity to engage on a range of topics of business relevance in the global health arena, such as public health; healthcare; and critical social, geopolitical and economic governance. In addition, the Health Team of the Forum ensures that these significant global health issues remain on top of the international agenda by providing thought leadership and creating cross-industry and multistakeholder platforms to stimulate concrete actions.
CHINESE PREMIER WEN JIABAO TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM.S INAUGURAL ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NEW CHAMPIONS IN DALIAN
CHINESE VERSION
Geneva, Switzerland, 28 August 2007 - The World Economic Forum announced today that Premier Wen Jiabao of China will take part in the World Economic Forum.s Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions, which will be held in Dalian, China, from 6 to 8 September 2007. The meeting is hosted in close partnership with the government of the People's Republic of China represented by the National Development and Reform Commission, the NDRC.
Commenting on the announcement, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, said, "I'm delighted to welcome the Premier's participation in Dalian - he will provide the meeting with a visionary framework for our discussions. Indeed, the idea of this meeting was born out of talks the Premier and I had two years ago during a visit to Beijing. The meeting is already well on track to becoming, alongside our Annual Meeting in Davos, the foremost meeting of global leaders from all sections of society, from all areas of business and from all regions of the world. Indeed, some are already calling it a 'summer Davos'. The Forum has a long and illustrious history in China, working with the leadership of the country and holding meetings there for more than 25 years. We are already looking forward to our second Annual Meeting of the New Champions which will again be held in China next year."
The meeting will focus on the role the new generation of fast-emerging multinational companies - the New Champions - are playing in substantially changing the global business landscape. Participants from 90 countries have already signed up and more than 1,700 participants are expected to take part. Participants include business leaders from the fast growing companies as well as leaders from global corporations. They will be joined by national and international political figures, leaders of the world.s most competitive cities as well as the fastest growing regions and states, experts from the world of Web 2.0, members of the Forum.s community of Young Global Leaders, and the international media, to exchange ideas and share new perspectives.
The Inaugural Meeting of the New Champions and the community formed by those attending will be supported and served by the World Economic Forum's recently opened Beijing office. The office will continue to expand and evolve into the strategic and administrative centre for the community of Global Growth Companies, helping those companies take on and develop their worldwide responsibilities.
For more information about the meeting, programme and participants, please visit the following Web links:
- All the information regarding the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions -
http://www.weforum.org/dalian - The full programme, which is automatically updated and contains session dates and titles -
http://www.weforum.org/dalian/programme - The preliminary list of participants - http://www.weforum.org/Dalian/ParticipantList
- The list of global CEOs acting as mentors of this new community -
http://www.weforum.org/Dalian/Mentors - Leading Chinese companies - http://www.weforum.org/Dalian/ChinaWelcomeCommittee
- Forum Member companies that as Partners for this initiative will provide special know-how to the Global Growth Companies -
http://www.weforum.org/dalian/partners - Video interviews with CEOs coming to Dalian - http://www.weforum.org/dalian/videos
Phoenix Satellite TV is the Host Broadcaster of the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MCCAIN AND BLAIR SOUND NOTES OF OPTIMISM
Davos, Switzerland, 27 January 2007 - US senator and possible presidential candidate John McCain told the closing session of the World Economic Forum that he expects the US congress to take action on climate change very soon, and the Bush administration to follow suit. "I admit that it is very late, and it may not be enough," McCain said, "but I think that for the first time you are going to see some action on this compelling issue."Referring to an earlier question by a reporter suggesting that a failure in American leadership is now a given, McCain said that he could understand the frustrations expressed at Davos and other world meetings, but that the US also feels frustration at the international community's failure to act on issues such as Iran, North Korea, Burma and others. Despite current world problems, McCain said he is still optimistic. "I still believe America's best days are ahead of us," he told participants in Davos.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also sounded an optimistic note in his closing remarks. Blair said that the three key issues dominating the Annual Meeting in Davos - world trade, climate change and Africa - still hang in the balance, but he added that there had been progress on each that would have seemed unimaginable even a short time back. "What is really happening," Blair told the participants, "is that nations - even the most great - are realizing that they cannot pursue their narrow national interests without invoking broader global values." Blair expressed cautious optimism about the World Trade Organization negotiations after discussions in the last few days with US President Bush, Brazil's President Lula and Germany's Chancellor Merkel. On climate change, Blair described the new American attitude a "quantum shift."
In two radical suggestions, Blair also recommended merging the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and dramatically expanding the UN Security Council. "A UN Security Council without Germany, Japan, Brazil or India, to say nothing of any African or Muslim nation," he said, "will, in time, not merely lose legitimacy in the eyes of the world, but seriously inhibit effective action."
LEADERS PLACE CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL TRADE TALKS AT TOP OF WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNUAL MEETING 2007 AGENDA
The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007
Davos, Switzerland, 24 January 2007 - The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007 has opened with a call from leaders to make progress on resolving climate change and restart the Doha round of global trade negotiations. The Annual Meeting Co-Chairs joined Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, in urging participants to confront "The Shifting Power Equation" and use the five-day meeting to shape the 2007 global agenda.Some 2,400 participants from 90 countries are participating in the Annual Meeting 2007, including 24 heads of state or government, 85 cabinet ministers, religious and media leaders, and heads of non-governmental organizations. Around 50% of the participants are business leaders drawn principally from the Forum's membership - 1,000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across all economic sectors.
"In some ways, we are living in a schizophrenic world. On the one hand, we have an economy that is doing well and the prospects for this year are very promising; on the other hand, we have so many underlying imbalances, inconsistencies, weaknesses and fragilities. So what we want to do at the Annual Meeting is to highlight the need to address those global challenges. I feel at the top of the agenda will probably be climate change, globalization, of course the WTO discussions will play a role, and the situation in the Middle East will be very much at the forefront of concerns. These are only some of the key aspects," said Professor Schwab.
"I am certainly going to be involved in discussions around water, and therefore around climate change and the environment. It.s key to what we do as we operate in some 200 countries around the world. I also want to discuss the pushing of the rekindling of the Doha round. I'm hopeful that there will be some discussions here that will cause that to happen. And the position that I.m coming from, with regard to that, is that it is fundamentally important to the ongoing growth of the global economy," said E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, USA, and Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting.
"Professor Schwab spoke of climate change; India is going to be a willing partner in discussing this issue. But clearly it's not a willing punching bag, because it has its limitations. We, as a billion people, are going to be consuming a lot of services and goods that will create emissions. We will need technology, we will need money, but India will be willing to align with the world," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, India, another Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting.
In an interview with the World Economic Forum, Mittal said, "One area [of the Annual Meeting agenda] is to kickstart the Doha round. How can the world come back to the trading table for a multilateral, globally-aligned business agenda? It's essential that there is a free movement of people and as we seek more trade with each other, the restrictions need to go down. And I think if people need greater access to markets like India, India must also have the benefit of putting its produce outside. And that can only happen if the deep, large agricultural subsidies given by Western nations are taken down."
"It's hard, being in the insurance business, not to reflect on climate change," said James J. Schiro, Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Group Management Board, Zurich Financial Services, Switzerland, and Annual Meeting Co-Chair. "Our job is to help people deal with the effects of climate change and to help our customers look at the risks involved with climate change - and how we can help them better adapt, and at the same time to step up to our responsibilities as individuals and as companies to help change the world on a global basis to deal with what is occurring in the changes in our climate," said Schiro.
Michelle Guthrie, Chief Executive Officer, Star Group, Hong Kong SAR, another Annual Meeting Co-Chair, highlighted Asia as her priority. "Coming from Asia, what I hope for is a discussion about the rise of China, India and other countries in Asia not being a threat but an opportunity. When you see the incredible consumer market opportunity for global businesses, it is quite extraordinary. Try to see those markets as incredible markets to be developed and not as a threat. And, tying in with the shifting power equation, that does not have to mean that there are winners and losers," she said.
"Davos this year provides a good platform for a better understanding of the multiple facets of globalization. This is key to harnessing it - and a solid multilateral trading system is obviously part of this endeavour," said Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization, Geneva.
Co-Chairs
- Michelle Guthrie, Chief Executive Officer, Star Group, Hong Kong SAR
- E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, USA
- Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, India
- James J. Schiro, Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Group Management Board, Zurich Financial Services, Switzerland
- Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Executive Officer, Google, USA
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNUAL MEETING 2007 IN DAVOS: WORLD LEADERS CONFRONT "THE SHIFTING POWER EQUATION"
The challenge of an "increasingly schizophrenic world"
Geneva, Switzerland, 17 January - The World Economic Forum today unveiled the programme for its Annual Meeting in Davos, including the key participants, themes and goals. The overarching theme of the Meeting, which will take place from 24 to 28 January, is "Shaping the Global Agenda, The Shifting Power Equation."Speaking at today's press conference at the World Economic Forum.s headquarters in Geneva, Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab said, "We are faced by a world which is increasingly schizophrenic. Our world is rapidly changing and power is shifting geopolitically, in business terms and even in the virtual world. Power, wealth and well-being are spread in ever more complex ways, leading to a world which is harder and harder to understand and which often seems alien to us. It is to make sense of this world, and to tackle its complex problems and opportunities, that leaders from all walks of life will once again meet in Davos at our Annual Meeting. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting gives all of us a chance to understand and shape the Global Agenda in the year ahead."
Over the course of the five-day Meeting, 2,400 participants from 90 countries will convene in Davos, including 24 heads of state or government, 85 cabinet ministers, along with religious leaders, media leaders and heads of non-governmental organizations. Around 50% of the participants are business leaders drawn principally from the Forum's members - 1,000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across all economic sectors.
The programme will follow four main themes that are high on the global agenda in 2007. These range from "Economics: New Drivers" and "Geopolitics: The Need for Fresh Mandates" to "Business: Leading in a Connected World", and "Technology and Society: Identity, Community and Networks". The opening session of the Annual Meeting will see Angela Merkel lay out her agenda for the year ahead. The German Chancellor will be chair of the G8 for 2007 and rotating head of the European Council for the first six months of the year.
This year will also see the extension of the workshops held in the Davos WorkSpace. There will be two series under the overarching title "Designing New Solutions to Complex Challenges". The CEO Series will examine "Leading in a Networked World", with sessions ranging from "Collaborate to Innovate" to "Finding Future Talent", and the Future Series will investigate "Living in a Networked World" with a series of six sessions ranging from "Building the Skills of the Future" to "Designing Sustainable Cities".
Commenting on the Annual Meeting programme, Ged Davis, Managing Director and Head of the Centre for Strategic Insight at the World Economic Forum, said: "The idea that the world is in transition is not new, but in 2007 we can see much more clearly the dimensions of change in technology, society, geopolitics and economics, and the consequences for business. It is our understanding of this change that underscores the theme of the Annual Meeting in Davos: 'The Shifting Power Equation'. At the Annual Meeting we can explore the implications of these shifts. They are first addressed in update sessions and in the opening plenary, establishing priorities and proposing possible actions. They are further examined in plenary debate and interactive dialogue. Finally, the Forum's newly expanded Davos WorkSpaces will provide an environment tailored to facilitate peer reflection, collaboration and the identification of solutions."
Business leaders this year come from the top-most levels, with more than 800 CEOs or Chairmen taking part - the highest number ever. Noting the strong business participation this year, Peter Torreele, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, said, "Business is always strongly represented at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos - but in terms of the quality and geographical representation of attendees, this is a particularly good year. If we look at the top 100 companies in the world chosen by the FT, Fortune or Forbes, 73 are represented at the Annual Meeting, the vast majority by the CEO, Chairman or President. In total more than 800 chairmen and CEOs from leading companies will take an active part in the discussions, coming from around the world. As business leaders become more and more engaged with global problems, it's clear that the Forum is providing the platform for them to work with other sectors of society for the global good."
Key Participants in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007
The co-chairs are:
- John Browne of Madingley, Group Chief Executive, BP, United Kingdom
- Michelle Guthrie, Chief Executive Officer, Star Group, Hong Kong SAR
- E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, USA
- Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, India
- James J. Schiro, Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Group Management Board, Zurich Financial Services, Switzerland
- Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Executive Officer, Google, USA
Click here for a list of some of the 1,000 key business leaders participating in this year's Annual Meeting. www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/businessleaders, and 200 leading public figures www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/publicfigures
Among the participants:
There are 24 heads of state or government participating in the Annual Meeting: Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority; Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization Executive Committee; H.M. King Abdullah II Ibn Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland; H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco; Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan; Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan; Abudllah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia; Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Felipe Calderón-Hinojosa, President of Mexico; Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of the Swiss Confederation and Federal Councillor of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland; Ferenc Gyurcsany, Prime Minister of Hungary; Tarja Halonen, President of Finland; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia; Jakaya M. Kikwete, President of Tanzania; Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil; Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Philippines; Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa; Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany; Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, Prime Minister of Egypt; Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam; Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden; Fouad Siniora, Prime Minister of Lebanon; Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia; and Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister of Ukraine.
There will also be more than 30 Trade and Agricultural ministers, seven European Commissioners, and five cabinet members from the United States.
Among the other participants are heads of international organizations including Mohamed M. ElBaradei, Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna; Richard Feachem, Executive Director, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Geneva; Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva; Peter Piot, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Geneva; Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, United Nations Children.s Fund (UNICEF), New York; Paul D. Wolfowitz, President, World Bank, Washington DC; Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris; Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi; Heizo Takenaka, Director, Global Security Research Institute, Keiko University, Japan.
NGOs and labour leaders and academics include:
Irene Khan, Secretary-General, Amnesty International; Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch; Barbara Stocking, Director, Oxfam Great Britain; Hany El Banna, President, Islamic Relief; Gerd Leipold, Executive Director, Greenpeace International; Markku Niskala, Secretary-General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; Guy Ryder, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation; Sharan Burrow, President, Australian Council of Trade Unions; and Philip Jennings, General Secretary, UNI Global Union; Lester R. Brown, Founder and President, Earth Policy Institute; Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies, University of Oxford; Susan Greenfield, Director, The Royal Institution of Great Britain; Jessica Mathews, President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, Harvard Business School; Laura D. Tyson, Dean, London Business School.
Personalities from the cultural world contributing to the debates in Davos will include musicians Bono and Peter Gabriel, author Paulo Coelho, Chess Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, and painter and sculptor Romero Britto.
Representatives of the world's media will also be represented at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, with 15% of participants drawn from media organizations around the world. Media representatives will have access to every session at the Annual Meeting. Additionally, this year the Forum will invite every participant to join its weblog and will podcast key sessions. As in previous years, more than 40 sessions will be webcast. Any person wishing to join the Davos Conversation should tag all contributions as "davos07".
Notes to Editors:
- Everything about the Annual Meeting 2007 can be found here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting
- In depth Interviews with key business participants are here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/indepth
- The Programme can be downloaded here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/programme
- Follow the discussions and read the Session summaries here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/summaries2007
- Follow key debates webcast live or download them as vodcasts or podcasts at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/webcasts
- Join the Davos Conversation (www.weforum.org/davosconversation) or leave your comments in our Weblog at: www.forumblog.org
- Subscribe to our Press Releases here: www.weforum.org/pressreleases
- Download print-quality high resolution Photographs of the Annual Meeting free of charge here: www.swiss-image.ch/webwef/INDEX.htm (login: world; password: forum)
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org)
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EU MEMBERSHIP WILL CONNECT CIVILIZATIONS, SAYS TURKISH PM
World Economic Forum in Turkey opens with debate on Turkey's future in Europe
Istanbul, Turkey, 23 November 2006 - Turkey's joining the European Union will be an important contribution to global peace and prosperity, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a keynote address to participants in the opening session of the World Economic Forum in Turkey today. "Turkey's membership in the EU will be an important example of how an alliance of civilizations can be achieved," he declared. But there are those who do not see the benefits, he acknowledged. Nevertheless, the prime minister stressed that, "We should work together so we can achieve world peace and push out global terror and the clash of civilizations."More than 400 business, government, media, academic and civil society leaders are participating in the two-day meeting under the theme "Connecting Regions - Creating New Opportunities". This is the second World Economic Forum meeting to be held in Turkey since 1998. Said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum: "We are here at a moment when the region is more and more characterized by instability but Turkey is characterized more and more by stability".
Prime Minister Erdogan also stressed that Turkey is pushing ahead with deep economic, political and social reforms, which are essential if the country is to qualify for EU membership. The impact of these structural reforms has already been felt, he said. "It is a silent revolution." His government would continue the responsible management of the economy that resulted in 7.6% growth last year and brought inflation and public spending under control. "We have not compromised on our fiscal discipline and will not in the future," Erdogan promised.
As a result, "Turkey is going through an incredible economic, political and social transformation," said Ali Babacan, Minister of the Economy of Turkey, and Chief Negotiator for the European Union. "What is most important is that Turkey has been the owner of this transformation. Ownership has been the key to success." Through its reforms, Turkey is sending a strong signal that democracy, secularism, Islam and economic growth can co-exist, Babacan reckoned.
Negotiations between Turkey and the EU began last year. During the session, panellists discussed the status of the talks. The situation is "very positive", said Joaquín Almunia, Commissioner, Economic and Monetary Affairs, European Commission, Brussels. But "some reforms have not advanced as quickly as we hoped." The main problem is the Cyprus question, Almunia added. "If the questions linked to Cyprus are not solved, this will affect the overall negotiations." Turkey has undergone "drastic" economic reforms as part of its commitment to EU membership, said Ferit F. Sahenk, Chairman, Dogus Holding, Turkey. "We have done our bit." Turkey has ambitions to be a regional economic power, he continued. "We are becoming a bridge between East and West and between North and South as well. The EU and Turkey will be a great partnership but we have to understand each other a little more."
Relations between the EU and Turkey have come under strain since the accession talks began. Hanzade Dogan, Chief Executive Officer, Dogan Newspaper Publishing, Dogan Media Group (DYH), Turkey, pointed out that five years ago, the support for EU membership among Turkish people was around 70%. One recent survey indicated that public support had dropped to only 30%. A major reason for the collapse is the Cyprus issue, Dogan said. After accepting the UN plan to resolve the problem, Turkish people were dismayed that Greek Cypriots rejected it in a referendum and Cyprus joined the EU. "We cannot just say it is an illusion of double standards," Dogan said. "This has caused the Turkish public to lose faith." To galvanize the negotiations, Europe must present a more appealing vision. "It is now for the EU to sell the idea of a strong, globalized Europe not just to the Turkish people but to the people in Paris." Rather than focus on small agendas, Europe must look at the big, long-term picture, Dogan concluded.
Despite the roadblocks, Babacan said that Turkey would not walk away from its negotiations with the EU. "We will always be there to talk." From his perspective as leader of a country that recently joined the EU, Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania, said that the road to membership is painful. But he denied that double standards have been applied to Turkey. Such allegations are "nothing but false illusions", he added. "The success of the negotiations will depend on the resolve and courage of people to make the necessary but not always popular decisions. There is a long way to go, but I have no doubt that one day the EU will welcome Turkey into the family." The President concluded: "Europe needs Turkey and Turkey needs Europe."
Note to Editors:
- The programme of the World Economic Forum in Turkey may be downloaded here: http://www.weforum.org/turkey/programme
- Feel free to download Fast Facts (http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Turkey/fastfacts.pdf) about the questions discussed.
- Interviews with business and political leaders participating in the meeting may be downloaded here: http://www.weforum.org/turkey/indepth
- Print-quality high-resolution photographs of some participants can be accessed here: http://www.pbase.com/forumweb/turkey
- Media registration at http://www.weforummedia.org is now closed.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org)
If you do not want to receive further information about the World Economic Forum, click here.
AFRICA NEEDS A COHERENT POLICY TOWARDS CHINA AND INDIA
Cape Town, 1 June 2006 - Given its growing relationship with China and India, Africa needs a coherent policy towards the two emerging economic giants of Asia. At a plenary session on the second day of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, participants discussed the possibility of using the New Partnership for Africa.s Development (NEPAD) framework of the African Union (AU) as the platform for shaping such an approach. NEPAD is a strategic framework for African renewal that was launched by the AU in 2001 to address the continent.s development challenges on the basis of the principles of good governance and mutual accountability.NEPAD's functions match the aspirations that Africa has in its relations with China and India, panellists argued. China and India should not be viewed as competitors or clients, but as contributors to Africa's development, said Jakaya M. Kikwete, President of Tanzania. "China and India give Africa the hope that it is possible to transform our nations from abject poverty to higher levels of development". Added Mandisi Mpahlwa, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa: "We need to clarify the nature of our relationship. NEPAD must be the centrepiece of our engagement." Firminio Mucavele, Chief Executive, NEPAD Secretariat, South Africa, stressed that, given the shift in the economic centre of gravity from the West to Asia, "a new kind of cooperation" is needed. "The platform for it exists. The framework should be NEPAD".
China and India serve as models for Africa because their experiences hold lessons for developing countries on how to manage gradual economic and political transformation, Kikwete and Mpahlwa observed. "For the first time, there are centres of power that understand our development challenges," Mpahlwa remarked. Concluded Kikwete: "We also see them as offering opportunities, markets, technology - many things that we need".
The World Economic Forum on Africa, which opened yesterday, has brought together more than 700 business, government and civil society leaders to discuss how Africa today is "going for growth". The meeting ends tomorrow.
MERKEL DELIVERS OPENING ADDRESS TO 2006 ANNUAL MEETING
Chancellor of Germany calls for reforms, new business vibrancy in Europe
Davos, Switzerland, 25 January 2006 - Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany, delivered the opening address at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2006 tonight with a call for Germany "to become the leading country in ideas".
Too often ideas and the entrepreneurs seeking to capitalize on ideas are sidelined by a choking bureaucracy, she said. In Germany, "each rule and every regulation has a political lobby". To overcome this political blockage, "Germany must become more flexible, develop better benchmarking, become less rigid in its laws, and above all tackle bureaucracy. We need to reshape the federal government structure to reflect the world's new realities."
Merkel outlined a tapestry of reforms for the Annual Meeting participants, including a more "viable" tax system, reduced labour costs, a more competitive public policy to attract the best minds, increased development in sectors of the economy that are expected to prosper, such as healthcare, and a German economy that invests far more than it does today on research and development. Merkel said her target is 3% of GDP to be spent on R&D by 2010.
Merkel also called for renewed focus on piracy as a global economic issue, and called on global agreements for technology standards. Reflecting the rising global concern over oil markets, she also spoke of Germany's need for a new energy policy. "Good new environmental technologies can be a creative imperative," she reminded participants.
Expressing disappointment over the recent round of World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong, Merkel warned that the talks must become more productive and must do better to ensure market access for developing countries. But she stressed her strong support for international organizations. She warned that simple bilateral agreements between governments "aren't going to take us forward anymore".
Germany's resolve to play a responsible and newly energetic role on the world stage as Europe's largest economy will result in a new vibrancy on the continent, Merkel argued. "Germany will take this creative imperative to make Europe the most dynamic continent in the world."
Notes to Editors:
- For the Fact Sheet click here
- Everything about the Annual Meeting 2006 can be found here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting
- Here are the key Participants: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/participants
- In-depth Interviews with key business participants are here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/indepth
- The entire Programme can be downloaded here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/programme
- Follow the discussions and read the Session summaries here: http://www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/summaries2006
- Watch the key debates live in our Webcasts at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/webcasts
- Download key debates as Podcasts or Audio Blogs at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/podcasts
- Leave your comments in our Weblog at: www.forumblog.org
- Subscribe to or download Press Releases here: www.weforum.org/pressreleases
- Download print-quality high resolution Photographs of the Annual Meeting free of charge here: www.swiss-image.ch/forum (login: world; password: forum)
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org)
If you do not want to receive further information about the World Economic Forum, click here.
WORLD LEADERS EMBRACE "THE CREATIVE IMPERATIVE" AT THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNUAL MEETING 2006
It's no longer business as usual as leaders at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting seek new, creative capabilities to meet global challenges
Davos, Switzerland, 25 January 2006 - The 36th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos has opened with calls for business, political and civil society leaders to harness creativity to provide new answers to the world's problems.
"The assumptions, tools and frameworks that leaders have used to make decisions over the past decade appear inadequate. It is imperative for leaders of all walks of life to develop new capabilities if they expect to be successful and to maintain relevance," said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
"The Creative Imperative is very important because although the outlook for 2006 is generally positive, there are clouds in the blue sky," said Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé, Switzerland; Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, and a Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting 2006.
Creativity is needed to find new tools and solutions to tackle dark clouds like global imbalances, according to Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, India, also a Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting 2006. "The world has a real chance if we form global partnerships to banish poverty and we need creative solutions. What we are going to do at the Annual Meeting is have a dialogue among the different constituents to form a partnership to create a more balanced world," he said.
"Whether it's the global environment, nuclear proliferation, global poverty or global governance, the challenge is finding the energy to address tomorrow's problems today. This is not something that can be done by the public sector alone, or without business, but it should be done collectively. And this is why the Annual Meeting is such a valuable one because we can confront fears, marshal hope and move forward," said Lawrence H. Summers, President, Harvard University, USA, another Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting 2006.
"The Creative Imperative is about innovation and differentiation and has geographical and functional implications," said Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive, WPP, United Kingdom, a Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting 2006. The four Co-Chairs agreed that technology is a key area where creativity and innovation can be used to deliver solutions.
This year's Annual Meeting sees the highest level of top business participants - 735 of those participating are at the CEO or chairman level - the highest ever. Around 50% of participants are business leaders drawn principally from the Forum's members - 1,000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across all economic sectors.
"Business is in a unique position to play a leading role in helping to shape the global agenda, and can provide government and civil society with the tools and capabilities to better adapt," said Jonathan Schmidt, Director, Global Agenda, World Economic Forum. "The Annual Meeting aims to bring this message to participants, in order to stimulate creative capabilities and the courage to embrace change, which is at times disruptive and painful, but can ultimately be uplifting and rewarding," he said.
The Annual Meeting kicks off with the "Big Debate" - an interactive session during which participants will exchange their views and experiences. The programme will follow five main themes that are high on the global agenda in 2006. These range from "The Emergence of China and India" and "The Changing Economic Landscape" to "New Mindsets and Changing Attitudes", "Creating Future Jobs" and "Regional Identities and Struggles". There will be three responses: "Building Trust in Public and Private Institutions", "Effective Leadership in Managing Global Risks" and "Innovation, Creativity and Design Strategy".
Notes to Editors:
- For the Fact Sheet click here
- Everything about the Annual Meeting 2006 can be found here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting
- Here are the key Participants: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/participants
- In-depth Interviews with key business participants are here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/indepth
- The entire Programme can be downloaded here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/programme
- Follow the discussions and read the Session summaries here: http://www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/summaries2006
- Watch the key debates live in our Webcasts at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/webcasts
- Download key debates as Podcasts or Audio Blogs at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/podcasts
- Leave your comments in our Weblog at: www.forumblog.org
- Subscribe to or download Press Releases here: www.weforum.org/pressreleases
- Download print-quality high resolution Photographs of the Annual Meeting free of charge here: www.swiss-image.ch/forum (login: world; password: forum)
THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM TO OPEN OFFICE IN CHINA
China to be Forum's "hub" for a new breed of emerging global players
Davos, Switzerland, 25 January 2006 - The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of the People's Republic of China and the World Economic Forum have today formally agreed to establish a representative office of the Forum in China. This office will be the "hub" for the Forum's new programme to identify and develop Global Growth Companies, as well as to lead in the development of a Global Industry Summit that will serve as the Annual Meeting of Global Growth Companies.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Mr Zhang Xiaoqing, Vice-Chairman of NDRC and Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. The MoU further strengthens the Forum's long-standing engagement in China and sets the path to open the Forum's first office in Asia and launch the Global Industry Summit in China as of 2007.
"The establishment of the Forum's representative office in China will promote the comprehensive cooperation between China and the Forum," said Mr Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice-Chairman of the NDRC. "It will also actively facilitate communication and cooperation between Chinese enterprise and global companies."
"We have chosen China for our Global Industry Summit because we believe that China is well positioned to serve as a global hub for working with the next generation of corporate champions," said Klaus Schwab. "The Forum first engaged in China over 26 years ago with our China Business Summit. Opening an office in China underlines our commitment to the country and reinforces our efforts to work with the companies that will shape the 21st century."
The Global Industry Summit will be the flagship event and primary community-building activity for the Global Growth Companies. The Summit will bring together Global Growth Companies and the World Economic Forum's top experts and leaders of industry. Industry-specific meetings of global business leaders will emphasize the needs and aspirations of companies that are operating globally, developing recognized global brands and managing extremely rapid expansion.
About the Community of Global Growth Companies
The World Economic Forum will establish the Community of Global Growth Companies with the mission to enable emerging multinationals to develop into the next generation of global champions and become a major force driving economic development. The community will include companies who demonstrate a clear potential to become leaders in the global economy based on a combination of their business model, growth record, leadership and the markets they serve.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNUAL MEETING 2006 IN DAVOS: WORLD LEADERS URGED TO SEIZE "THE CREATIVE IMPERATIVE"
Geneva, Switzerland, 18 January - The World Economic Forum today unveiled the programme for its Annual Meeting in Davos, including the key participants, themes and goals. The overarching theme of the Meeting, from 25 to 29 January, is "The Creative Imperative".Speaking at today's press conference at the World Economic Forum's headquarters in Geneva, Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab said, "The Annual Meeting gives all of us a chance to understand and shape the Global Agenda in the year ahead. It is the unique ability of the Annual Meeting to make sense of a rapidly changing world and to connect the seemingly unconnected that joins us all in a common cause. It is this 'creativity' in pursuit of the common good that is at the heart of the 'spirit of Davos'."
Over the course of the five-day Meeting, 2,340 participants from 89 countries will convene in Davos, including 15 heads of state or government, 60 cabinet ministers, 23 religious leaders, 13 union leaders and more than 30 heads of non-governmental organizations. Around 50% of the participants are business leaders drawn principally from the Forum's members - 1,000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across all economic sectors.
The Annual Meeting will kick off with the "Big Debate" - an interactive session during which participants will exchange their views and experiences. The programme will follow five main themes that are high on the global agenda in 2006. These range from "The Emergence of China and India" and "The Changing Economic Landscape" to "New Mindsets and Changing Attitudes", "Creating Future Jobs" and "Regional Identities and Struggles".
Commenting on the Annual Meeting programme, Ged Davis, Managing Director and Head of the Centre for Strategic Insight at the World Economic Forum, said, "It is imperative that we learn how to unleash our creative potential to tackle the world.s problems. The assumptions, tools and frameworks that business, government and civil society leaders have employed to make decisions over the past decade appear in need of renewal. To successfully meet the challenges we face will require an extraordinary collective response. At the centre of the response will be a greater emphasis on human imagination, innovation and creativity. If leaders in business, politics, multinational institutions and civil society are to remain effective and credible they must learn how best to adopt new policy designs and innovative approaches".
This year sees the highest level of top business participants with 735 of those attending at the CEO or Chairman level - the highest ever. Noting the strong business participation this year, Peter Torreele, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, said, "Business is always strongly represented at the Annual Meeting at Davos - but in terms of the quality and geographical representation of attendees this is the best ever year. More than 730 chairmen and CEOs from the world.s leading companies will take active part in the discussions, coming from over 70 countries. This year there is a particularly strong Asian representation. Once again, the Annual Meeting will allow business to play a key role in shaping the global agenda".
Key Participants of the Annual Meeting 2006
The Co-Chairs:
Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, India
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nestl, Switzerland
Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive, WPP, United Kingdom
Lawrence H. Summers, President, Harvard University, USA
Among the heads of state/government and other public figures:
Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan; Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, Prime Minister of Egypt; Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany; Ibrahim Jaafari, Prime Minister of Iraq; Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia; Fouad Siniora, Prime Minister of Lebanon; Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia; Armando Emilio Guebuza, President of Mozambique; Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria; Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway; Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan; Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Prime Minister of Poland; Moritz Leuenberger, President of the Swiss Confederation and Federal Councillor of the Environment, Transportation, Energy and Communications; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey; Mohamed M. ElBaradei, Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna; Javier Solana Madariaga, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Secretary-General, Council of the European Union, Brussels; Peter Mandelson, Commissioner, Trade, European Commission, Brussels; Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France; Thierry Breton, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry of France; Jean-Claude Trichet, President, European Central Bank, Frankfurt; Frank Walter Steinmeier, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany; Palaniappan Chidambaram, Minister of Finance of India; Zeng Peiyan, Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China; Kim Hyun-Chong, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Korea; Aleksey Kudrin, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation; Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva; Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom; Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom; Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations, New York; Paul D. Wolfowitz, President, World Bank, Washington DC; Robert Zoellick, US Deputy Secretary of State; Robert Portman, US Trade Representative, Office of the US Trade Representative, USA; Michael Chertoff, US Secretary of Homeland Security.
From the world of business:
Craig R. Barrett, Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation, USA; Sir Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman, Virgin Group, United Kingdom; John T. Chambers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cisco Systems, USA; Michael S. Dell, Chairman of the Board, Dell, USA; William H. Gates III, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation, USA; Carlos Ghosn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Renault, France, and President and Chief Executive Officer, Nissan, Japan; E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, USA; Abdallah S. Jum'ah, President and Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia; Lakshmi N. Mittal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mittal Steel Company, United Kingdom; Nam Joong-Soo, President and Chief Executive Officer, KT Corporation, Republic of Korea; Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, L'Oral, France; Larry Page, Co-Founder and President, Products, Google, USA; Charles Prince, Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup, USA; Hector de J. Ruiz, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), USA; Chen Tonghai, Chairman, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.), People's Republic of China; Ben J. Verwaayen, Chief Executive Officer, BT, United Kingdom; Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Board of Management, Bayer, Germany
Among the more than 53 non-governmental and international organizations participating in the Annual Meeting: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam GB, International save the Children Alliance, CARE International, Islamic Relief, World Vision International, Greenpeace International, Open Society Institute, and WWF-World Wide Fund for Nature.
Top Labour Leaders include Sharan Burrow, President, Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australia, and President of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
Personalities from the cultural world coming to Davos include Bono, Musician, DATA (Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa), United Kingdom; Paulo Coelho, Author, Brazil; Peter B. Gabriel, Musician, Real World, United Kingdom; Angelina Jolie, UN Refugee Ambassador, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Geneva.
Representatives of the world.s media will also be represented at the Annual Meeting, with 15% of the participants drawn from media organizations around the world. Media representatives will have access to every session at the Annual Meeting. Additionally, this year the Forum will invite every participant to join its weblog and will be podcasting key sessions. As in previous years, more than 40 sessions will be webcast.
For the first time ever, the World Economic Forum will integrate sports leaders into the Annual Meeting. The Forum is providing a platform to the most important sports leaders to discuss issues on the global agenda. Sessions will consider sport's role as a tool for development, key for economic growth and an unquestionable socio-political actor.
Some of the participants include: Joseph Blatter, President, Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA); Jacques Rogge, President, International Olympic Committee (IOC); Larry Scott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, WTA Tour; David Stern, Commissioner, National Basketball Association (NBA); Muhammad Ali, Former Heavyweight-Boxing Champion; Edson Arantes (Pelé) Nascimento, World Cup Soccer Champion; and Ernesto Bertarelli, President of Alinghi and Navigator, Winner of the America's Cup 2003.
Notes to Editors:
- Everything about the Annual Meeting 2006 can be found here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting
- Here are the key Participants: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/participants
- In-depth Interviews with key business participants are here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/indepth
- The entire Programme can be downloaded here: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/programme
- Follow the discussions and read the Session summaries here: http://www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/summaries2006
- Watch the key debates live in our Webcasts at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/webcasts
- Download key debates as Podcasts or Audio Blogs at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting/podcasts
- Leave your comments in our Weblog at: www.forumblog.org
- Subscribe to or download Press Releases here: www.weforum.org/pressreleases
- Download print-quality high resolution Photographs of the Annual Meeting free of charge here: www.swiss-image.ch/forum (login: world; password: forum)
OUTCOME OF WORLD TRADE TALKS UNDERLINES MODEST RATE OF PROGRESS BY THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY IN 2005, SAYS NEW REPORT BY WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Geneva, Switzerland, 19 December 2005 - For the first time in three years, the World Economic Forum.s Global Governance Initiative (GGI) has concluded that the world has slightly improved its efforts in the areas of peace and security, poverty, hunger, health and education. However, the Initiative concluded that efforts on environment and human rights slipped backwards in 2005.According to the GGI report, the world applied less than half the effort needed in 2005 to be on track for the achievement of the UN Millennium Goals, many of which have a deadline of 2015.
"The outcome of the WTO Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, which closed yesterday, exemplifies how the international community is beginning to work harder to alleviate poverty, but still has a long way to go," said Richard Samans, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum. "Much remains to be done in 2006 to transform the "Doha Development Round" from an aspiration to a concrete plan of action. A lot of hard bargaining lies ahead", he added.
The inability of the WTO Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong to meet its original target of a full framework of trade concessions on agriculture, industrial tariffs and other issues of importance to developing countries constitutes a missed opportunity for accelerating the rate of progress on poverty alleviation.
The World Economic Forum's GGI Report scores the efforts of the world's governments, NGOs and corporations against the UN Millennium Goals set in 2000. While this year's scores are the best result yet, 5 out of a goal of 10 was the highest score achieved for global efforts to reduce poverty, ensure peace and security, protect the environment and secure human rights in 2005.
The Initiative, which consists of over 50 independent experts from around the world, found that the focus given to poverty, Africa and development issues by a raft of events including the G-8 Summit at Gleneagles, high profile campaigns such as "Make Poverty History" and the Live 8 concerts - had a genuine impact.
Rankings of the GGI Report for 2005 are:
Improved Rankings
- PEACE and SECURITY: The international community did marginally better in addressing peace and security over last year, improving to a score of 3 from 2. No new wars began either within or between countries, thanks to the increased effectiveness of international preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace building operations. But the world.s leaders missed a golden opportunity for a major step forward at September's World Summit.
- POVERTY and HUNGER: Poverty has climbed to the top of the global agenda, and overall, poor people around the world were marginally better off in 2005. It was a notable year for mass mobilization of global civil society campaigns demanding increased aid, debt cancellation and trade justice. A few leaders, notably Britain.s Prime Minister Tony Blair, stepped up to answer the call, elevating the poverty and hunger scores each, to 5 from 4, and to 4 from 3, respectively.
- EDUCATION: New promises on development aid and new policies by some poor countries improve the education score a notch from last year to 4 from 3. Public advocacy campaigns for primary education reflected the growing global discourse on basic education as a fundamental right, not just an instrument for promoting economic development. But the world missed the deadline to achieve gender parity in education.
- HEALTH: One point improvement from 2004 from 4 to 5; global public health is now firmly on the global agenda. Laudable efforts gave renewed attention to global public health issues, particularly child mortality. There was a modest increase in resources for child immunizations, malaria and HIV/AIDS. But basic health infrastructure remains woefully lacking.
Declining Rankings
- ENVIRONMENT: The global environmental situation is bad and getting worse, and the score has dropped 10% or one point, from 3 to 2. There was a serious lack of high-level political commitment to global environmental goals; few countries slowed or reduced greenhouse gas emissions; no serious frameworks are in place to ensure the integrity of ecosystems; and hundreds of millions of people still lack access to clean water and sanitation.
- HUMAN RIGHTS: The year represented a continued retreat on human rights, a trend evident since 2001, and the score for human rights fell to 2, from 3. Denial of human rights became a more entrenched part of national political rhetoric, with restrictions on freedom from torture and freedom of expression.
Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002 and currently leading the Ethical Globalization Initiative and member of the project's Steering Committee, concluded: "These are not reasons for despair. They are, very definitely, reasons to redouble our efforts. If we do, historians may look back one day and say that 2005 was the real beginning of the 21st century - the century when humanity found ways to achieve meaningful stability and prosperity throughout the world."
WEF UPCOMING EVENTS 2006
Geneva , Switzerland , 8 December 2005 - The World Economic Forum is planning to hold key regional meetings in Beijing, Berlin, Cape Town, Istanbul, New Delhi, São Paulo, Sharm El Sheikh and Tokyo in 2006.The regional meetings of the World Economic Forum bring together between 200 and 1,500 participants, mainly global and regional leaders and the chief executives of the Forum's member companies.
The full list of World Economic Forum events for 2006 follows:
Calendar of World Economic Forum Events
Young Global Leaders Class of 2006 | 9 January 2006 | Geneva, Switzerland |
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting | 25-29 January 2006 | Davos, Switzerland |
Global Information Technology Report 2005-2006 | 28 March 2006 | Geneva, Switzerland |
Meet the New German Government | March/April 2006 * | Berlin, Germany |
World Economic Forum on Latin America | 5-6 April 2006 | São Paulo, Brazil |
World Economic Forum on the Middle East | 20-22 May 2006 | Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt |
World Economic Forum on Africa | 31 May - 2 June 2006 | Cape Town, South Africa |
Young Global Leaders Annual Meeting | 9-12 June 2006 * | Vancouver, Canada |
World Economic Forum on East Asia | 15-16 June 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007 | September 2006* | Geneva, Switzerland |
China Business Summit | 10-11 September 2006 | Beijing, China |
Gender Gap Report 2006 | November 2006 * | Geneva, Switzerland |
World Economic Forum on Turkey | 16-17 November 2006 * | Istanbul, Turkey |
India Economic Summit | 28-30 November 2006 | New Delhi, India |
Technology Pioneers 2007 | 4 December 2006 | Geneva, Switzerland |
For further information, click on the highlighted event. Dates of events marked with an asterisk are subject to change.
Should you wish to be accredited to any of these events you may register your media organization on our new registration facility: World Economic Forum Meeting Registration.
World Economic Forum Adds to Management Team
Geneva, Switzerland 7 September 2005 - The World Economic Forum has announced two new members of the management team:Michael M. Obermayer becomes Managing Director and Dean of the Global Leadership Fellows Programme.
The Global Leadership Fellows Programme combines rigorous project-based learning with a pioneering Master.s in Global Leadership. The three-year intensive work and learning programme is intended to train the future leaders of global enterprises and international organizations. The first contingent of just under fifty candidates for the Programme has already arrived at the Forum.s headquarters in Geneva.
Dr Obermayer worked with McKinsey & Company for 28 years. He built and chaired McKinsey.s practice in Eastern Europe and was based in Moscow throughout the 1990s. Most recently he was Senior Partner as well as Dean of McKinsey.s global corporate university which he led from London. He remains a senior adviser and faculty member for McKinsey.s internal education programme.
Alan P. Larson, former US Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs, will join the World Economic Forum as a strategic adviser and director.
The Forum will draw on his expertise on a number of initiatives and projects, particularly in the implementation of programmes that foster the role of the private sector in the development agenda. He will also help the Forum strengthen its regional activities in areas where he has particular knowledge, including the Middle East, China, India and Russia.
Mr Larson, who holds a PhD in Economics, has been an economic counsellor to five Secretaries of State since he joined the Department of State in 1973. From 1999 to 2005 he served as US Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs and was the first Foreign Service Officer to serve in this position.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org)
President Yushchenko urges business to seize the moment as key leaders converge on Kyiv for World Economic Forum Roundtable
Kyiv , Ukraine , 15 June 2005 - President Yushchenko of Ukraine will deliver an upbeat and optimistic message to leaders from business and politics at t he World Economic Forum Roundtable which begins in Kyiv tomorrow. The president will tell participants that " Ukraine has a unique potential for foreign investors." He will also bring them up to date on the actions taken so far to build a "law-abiding state and market economy." Among the 250 participants from 32 countries taking part in the Roundtable, under the theme The Opening of Ukraine , there will be seven heads of state and government and nearly 150 senior business leaders.Speaking before the start of the Roundtable, the president said: "The time has come to tell investors that Ukraine , with its companies, provides the best opportunities for investment."
But the president also emphasized that investment must go hand in hand with good governance. "It is not a smart thing to build a house on a bog," he said. "If we do not drain the bog of corruption, if we do not free every Ukrainian (not just government officials) of this rottenness, which has been stored for years in our subconscious - take, for example, some folks saying [[no bribe, no go]" - we will not be able to build a law-abiding state and market economy.
"This is why we started fighting corruption on day one. One of our first initiatives aimed at eradicating corruption was the programme 'STOP smuggling'. Along with introducing special anti-corruption groups that checked the work of customs officers and staff, Ukraine reduced duties on many imported goods. As a result, within the first few months, revenues from customs duties increased by 40%."
Also taking part in the Roundtable along with the President and Prime Minister of Ukraine are President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, President Arnold Rüütel of Estonia, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and President Vladimir Voronin of Moldova.
Joaquín Almunia, Commissioner, Economic and Monetary Affairs, will represent the European Commission.
Among the companies represented by senior executives are Microsoft, Shell, Nestle, Oracle, Coca-Cola, Nike and Deutsche Bank. A number of Ukrainian companies are also among the participants: NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, The State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine (Ukreximbank), Kyivstar GSM JSC, Interpipe Group and Kvazar-Micro Corporation
Facts and Figures:
Over the course of the two-day Roundtable, more than 245 participants from 32 countries will gather in Kyiv. About 108 participants are from Ukraine . 145 are business leaders, drawn principally from the Forum's members - 1,000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across economic sectors. Other major categories of participants from around the globe include approximately:
Speaking prior to the start of the Roundtable, Felix Howald, Associate Director of Europe , explained, "The meeting has attracted a high calibre of participants both from business and politics, and from both Ukraine and the wider international community. There is a real sense that Ukraine is on the move, and these are the people who want to be in at the beginning of a very special journey. This Roundtable is an excellent opportunity for the World Economic Forum and its members to interact with Ukrainian leaders from business and politics as well as from other sectors of society. Ukraine is a country of huge potential, and its people have recently shown what an extraordinary and dynamic resource they are both for the forces of democracy and for the development of business in the region."
GENERAL THEME
Held under the theme The Opening of Ukraine, this small gathering will provide participants with a first-hand view of economic perspectives and market developments in Ukraine .
It will offer a unique opportunity to interact with the new Ukrainian government.
Furthermore, the Roundtable will provide a platform for leading multinational businesses to support President Yushchenko and his government in their efforts during this first difficult year to push through the necessary economic reforms and to open up the markets in the country.
The programme will focus, on the one hand, on Ukraine's burning current challenges of its economic reform programme and business environment; relations with Europe, Russia and the rest of the world; and corruption and transparency.
BACKGROUND
Less than five months ago, President Yushchenko addressed participants at the Annual Meeting 2005 of the World Economic Forum in Davos pledging: "I am here in Davos to ask for your help. Ukraine needs you to visit, to invest, to help us to become a strong country." You have followed his call and are now ready to be part of two days of intense dialogue and output oriented discussions, which, we are convinced, will contribute to make Ukraine a strong country. Leaders from international and local business, politics, civil society, academia and the media will be part of this "Mini-Davos", as this gathering has been called in the local press during the last weeks. Ukraine , indeed, is opening, as the theme of the Extraordinary Ukraine Roundtable of the World Economic Forum suggests.
The objectives of this truly unique gathering are twofold. First, it will provide a timely platform for the international community - business and non-business - to support President Yushchenko and his cabinet to overcome the immense challenges he is facing in his first year of government. Second, and not less important, this Roundtable seeks to assess the tremendous business opportunities which are hidden in this "raw jewel Ukraine ".
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org)
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LEADERS OPEN AFRICA ECONOMIC SUMMIT WITH CALL FOR BUSINESS TO TAKE UP CENTRAL ROLE IN AFRICA'S REGENERATION
1 June 2005 Cape Town, South Africa - The World Economic Forum's Africa Economic Summit has opened with top business leaders calling on their colleagues to spearhead moves for change in Africa. The three Co-Chairs of the Summit urged captains of industry to join governments and organizations in grasping the current global "will to action" in Africa."There are many ways in which business can, must and should help," said Co-Chair, Niall FitzGerald, Chairman, Reuters, United Kingdom, and Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum. "I hope that by the end of Friday we will have a strong endorsement of business people who live and work in Africa and who are interested in Africa to get behind, in the most practical possible way, the recommendations of the Commission for Africa" which highlight the role business must play as a driver of Africa's regeneration.
The Co-Chairs Niall FitzGerald, Chairman, Reuters; Graham Mackay, Chief Executive, SABMiller; and Lazarus Zim, Chief Executive, Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, noted that the Commission for Africa's Report makes clear the importance of economic growth as the means to drive poverty reduction.
"Where we are today is completely unprecedented. We have never had this type of global attention on Africa in such a structured way and this is why this Summit is so important for us African business people and governments to say we have a ringing endorsement of this Report... that it's something that is practical and can be implemented. And we also say that we are prepared and willing to do our part in that implementation process," said Zim.
Governance is critical for setting the right climate, said Mackay. "The most important thing that business needs in order to make a positive contribution is improved governance. What it looks at most is if there is a safe, secure climate for investment, and that depends largely on the government. And so the response of business to the Commission's Report centred on that, that governance is a key lynchpin of everything else that happens," Mackay added.
The Co-Chairs agreed that 2005 is the "Year of Africa" with pledges of support and plans for action from many G-8 heads, accompanied by strong buy-in from African leaders such as Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria, and Benjamin William Mkapa, President of Tanzania.
"This is the 15th annual Africa Economic Summit, which this year comes at a critical time as the Commission for Africa and next month's G-8 Summit in Gleneagles have shone the spotlight on mobilizing the necessary partnerships and resources for Africa," said Haiko Alfeld, Director for Africa at the World Economic Forum.
The Commission for Africa Report provides the basis of discussions at the Africa Economic Summit because it suggests, for the first time, a way of executing change. "It is the only plan that can provide the framework to improve Africa's investment climate, address capacity constraints, mobilize financing for critical infrastructure development, boost healthcare systems, and discuss the legislative environment that will help business flourish," said Alfeld.
Over the course of the three-day meeting, more than 700 leaders, among them 500 from business - overwhelmingly from Africa - will have the first opportunity to respond to the Commission's Report. They will hold informal dialogue and form partnerships to address the major development challenges facing Africa.
For further information please contact:
Mark Adams
Director of Communications
Tel.: +27 (0)82 370 0529
Mob.: +41 (0)79 615 1671
mark.adams@weforum.org
Matthias Lüfkens
Senior Media Manager
Tel.: +27 (0)82 370 0589
Mob.: +41 (0)79 514 4781
matthias.luefkens@weforum.org
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.wefforum.org)
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM STUDY TO MEASURE THE GENDER GAP FOR THE FIRST TIME
LONDON, UK 16 MAY 2005What: The Competitiveness Programme team of the World Economic Forum will launch a study which will attempt to rank and measure the gender gap between national economies for the first time. The new benchmarking tool will gauge the benefits that economies receive or the penalties they accrue depending on the involvement of women in their national economies.
At a simple level, the report will rank 58 economies against each other to see which are best utilizing the talents and skills of more than 50% of their populations. Countries that do not capitalize on the full potential of one half of their societies are misallocating their human resources and undermining their competitive potential.
When: 16 May 2005 the report will be launched at 10.00 GMT.
Where: The launch will take place in London in the presence of a number of experts and high-profile guests.
More Information:
Global Competitiveness Programme (www.weforum.org/gcp
If you are interested in receiving more information on this story, please
contact Matthias Lüfkens, tel. +41 (0)22 869 1424, a href=mailto:matthias.luefkens@weforum.org>matthias.luefkens@weforum.org
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed
to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape
global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the
World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no
political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org).
To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be truly innovative; it must have a potential long-term impact on business and society; it is expected to show signs of being a long-term market leader; its technology must be proven; and it must have visionary leadership. Previous Technology Pioneers have included: Autonomy, Cambridge Silicon Radio, Encore Software, Google and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
To make your nominations or should you have questions, please contact Grant McKibbin on telephone +41 (0)22 869 1258, or by
e-mail at tech.pioneers@weforum.org
Further information on the programme can be found on the World Economic Forum's website at
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Technology+Pioneers
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests.(http://www.wefforum.org)
Geneva, Switzerland, 8 April 2005 - The World Economic Forum announced today the search for 30 exceptionally talented individuals who will join its organization as participants of the ground-breaking Global Leadership Programme. The Programme combines rigorous training with a pioneering Master's in Global Leadership, designed by the World Economic Forum and tapping into its network of distinguished faculty and leaders from around the world.
The three-year intensive work and learning programme is intended to train future leaders of global enterprises and international organizations. Successful candidates will be designated as "Global Leadership Fellows" and will be fully integrated in the World Economic Forum's work of shaping industry, regional and global agendas.
"The Global Leadership Programme reinforces our capability to serve our members and constituents as it is intended to attract the best people in the world," noted Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. "It is also innovative since it fulfils the requirements for training future global leaders."
Upon successful completion of the Programme, Global Leadership Fellows will be given assistance in identifying placement opportunities at, but not limited to, the World Economic Forum and its member companies.
Candidates must have:
The first 30 candidates will start their training in September at the World Economic Forum headquarters in Geneva. From then on, the Forum will annually select 30 candidates to take part in the Programme.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.wefforum.org)
NORDIC COUNTRIES, ONCE
AGAIN, TOP THE RANKINGS IN THE GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REPORT OF
THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM Ranking Places Singapore
as the World’s Most Successful Economy in Exploiting ICT Developments –
US Falls to Fifth Place Wednesday 9 March,
Geneva, Switzerland – The
Nordic countries continue to build up an impressive track record in the
ICT (information and communications technology) area, with Iceland,
Finland, Denmark and Sweden in the second, third, fourth and sixth
places respectively (and Norway a respectable 13th). Iceland, in
particular, achieved the greatest improvement among the top performers,
climbing from position10 the previous year to 2 overall in 2004. Nordic
countries have registered consistently high ICT penetration rates and
top ten positions over the last four years. Governments, the business
communities and households are enthusiastic users of new technologies
and the countries have a distinguished record in technological
innovation. Sweden, Finland and Denmark, in particular, consistently
outrank some of the larger European economies in terms of the number of
US patents registered per million population, a frequently used
indicator of a nation’s innovation record. They also enjoy an enviable
regulatory and institutional environment that has nurtured the growth
of the ICT sector. Switzerland (9), United
Kingdom (12), Germany (14), the Netherlands (16), Luxembourg (17),
Austria (19) and France (20) follow closely and are all among the 20
top performers in the Index. On a more sobering note, Italy shows signs
of a sharply worsened ICT performance, having dropped 17 places in the
rankings with respect to last year – from 28 to 45 out of 104
economies. A cumbersome regulatory environment, a relatively poor ICT
infrastructure, and deficiencies in such areas as the quality of the
educational system, low levels of collaboration between industry and
the universities, among others, are all key factors explaining this
drop in ranks. Among the new members of the European Union, Estonia
leads the way positioning itself in 25th place. The Report ranks
Singapore as the top economy in exploiting global ICT developments for
the first time. The report places Singapore as the best performer
worldwide in a number of categories – quality of maths and science
education, affordability of telephone connection charges, and
government prioritization and procurement of ICT – and gets extremely
high scores in other areas, such as affordability of Internet access. By contrast, the United
States drops to number With a total coverage of
104 economies worldwide and published for the fourth consecutive year, The Global Information
Technology Report has emerged as the world’s
leading assessment of the impact of information and communication
technology (ICT) on the development and competitiveness of nations.
Under the theme “Efficiency in an Increasingly Connected
World”, The Global Information Technology Report
2004-2005 is released at a time of cautious
optimism about the short-term global economic outlook and the emergence
of a broad consensus about the central role that ICT plays in boosting
growth prospects of developed and developing countries. In line with
the World Economic Forum’s efforts to expand the geographical coverage
of the Report, five new countries from diverse regions of the world
(Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia and United Arab
Emirates) have been included this year. “There are twelve
European countries among the top twenty performers in the world in
terms of networked readiness. Fifteen of the twenty countries with the
highest levels of per capita income in the world are located in Europe.
No continent in the world highlights more eloquently the positive
synergies that at work between the spread of information and
communication technologies on the one hand, and rising levels of
prosperity on the other. From this perspective, one can only welcome
the renewed attempts in Europe to revitalize the Lisbon Strategy,
including its information society components, to turn Europe into the
most competitive economy in the world. While this is not likely to be
achieved by 2010, as originally envisaged, the goal remains relevant
and, more important, eminently achievable,” said Report co-editor
Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of the Global Competitiveness Program at
the World Economic Forum. The Global Information
Technology Report 2004-2005 consists
of three main parts: the first part presents several analytical studies
related to aspects of ICT development, including a case study on
Taiwan’s impressive emergence over the last 20 years as one of the
world’s leading manufacturers of ICT products; the second part contains
detailed country profiles providing a snapshot of each country’s level
of ICT development; and the third consists of data tables with country
rankings for each variable comprised by the Index. The overall main
index of the Report, the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), measures the
propensity for countries to exploit the opportunities offered by ICT
and establishes a broad international framework mapping out the
enabling factors of such capacity. "There is a strong
correlation between ICT spending and productivity, which is
demonstrated in this research as a strong correlation between the
rankings and global competitiveness," said John Chambers, President and
CEO of Cisco Systems, which sponsored the Report. "While ICT usage is a
measure of the present, ICT readiness is perhaps a measure of the
future. Proactive policies and investments by all levels of government
such as encouraging broadband network infrastructures, the education
and literacy of citizens and ongoing skills training are all components
of the readiness measurement and play an important role in building the
foundations of a country’s productivity,” he added. Highlights of the Results
of the Networked Readiness Index Rankings 2004-2005 Soumitra Dutta, Professor
of Business and Technology and Dean of Executive Education at INSEAD,
co-editor of the Report, explained: “The Networked Readiness Index
(NRI) has evolved into an accepted global benchmark of an economy's
preparation to participate in and benefit from information and
communication technology developments. Beyond the mere provision of an
annual international cross-section of networked readiness, the
publication of the Report may also be seen as a vehicle whereby
governments, businesses and individuals can assess progress on a
regular basis.” Country Networked
Readiness Index
2004-2005 Networked
Readiness Index
2003-2004 Country Networked
Readiness Index
2004-2005 Networked
Readiness Index
2003-2004 Singapore 1 2 Romania 53 61 Iceland 2 10 Morocco 54 64 Finland 3 3 Namibia 55 59 Denmark 4 5 Latvia 56 35 United States 5 1 Egypt 57 65 Sweden 6 4 Croatia 58 48 Hong Kong 7 18 Trinidad and Tobago 59 52 Japan 8 12 Mexico 60 44 Switzerland 9 7 Costa Rica 61 49 Canada 10 6 Russian Federation 62 63 Australia 11 9 Pakistan 63 76 United Kingdom 12 15 Uruguay 64 54 Norway 13 8 Ghana 65 74 Germany 14 11 Colombia 66 60 Taiwan 15 17 Philippines 67 69 Netherlands 16 13 Vietnam 68 68 Luxembourg 17 14 Panama 69 58 Israel 18 16 El Salvador 70 62 Austria 19 21 Sri Lanka 71 66 France 20 19 Poland 72 47 New Zealand 21 23 Bulgaria 73 67 Ireland 22 22 Gambia 74 82 United Arab Emirates 23 - Kenya 75 84 Korea 24 20 Argentina 76 50 Estonia 25 25 Uganda 77 80 Belgium 26 24 Dominican Republic 78 57 Malaysia 27 26 Serbia and Montenegro 79 77 Malta 28 27 Algeria 80 87 Spain 29 29 Zambia 81 85 Portugal 30 31 Ukraine 82 78 Tunisia 31 40 Tanzania 83 71 Slovenia 32 30 Venezuela 84 72 Bahrain 33 - Macedonia 85 75 South Africa 34 37 Nigeria 86 79 Chile 35 32 Madagascar 87 92 Thailand 36 38 Guatemala 88 86 Cyprus 37 - Bosnia and Herzegovina 89 - Hungary 38 36 Peru 90 70 India 39 45 Georgia 91 - Czech Republic 40 33 Mali 92 96 China 41 51 Malawi 93 88 Greece 42 34 Zimbabwe 94 95 Lithuania 43 42 Ecuador 95 89 Jordan 44 46 Mozambique 96 97 Italy 45 28 Honduras 97 98 Brazil 46 39 Paraguay 98 91 Mauritius 47 43 Bolivia 99 90 Slovak Republic 48 41 Bangladesh 100 93 Jamaica 49 53 Angola 101 99 Botswana 50 55 Ethiopia 102 101 Indonesia 51 73 Nicaragua 103 94 Turkey 52 56 Chad 104 102 Notes to Editors: The Report, published by
Palgrave MacMillan, is available to order from http://www.palgrave.com/worldeconomicforum/
The editors of the Report
are Soumitra Dutta of INSEAD and Augusto Lopez-Claros of the World
Economic Forum. Should you require
further specific information about the Report, please contact public.affairs@weforum.org
or gcp@weforum.org or visit http://www.weforum.org/gitr The World Economic Forum
is the foremost global community of business, political, intellectual
and other leaders of society committed to improving the state of the
world. Incorporated as a
foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum
is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan
or national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (http://www.weforum.org).
PRESS
RELEASE BLAIR,
BONO, CLINTON, GATES, MBEKI, OBASANJO ON STAGE AT THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
ANNUAL MEETING IN DAVOS 26 January 2005 , Davos ,
Switzerland DAVOS/SWITZERLAND,
27JAN05 - William J. Clinton, Founder, William Jefferson
Clinton Foundation; President of the United States (1993-2001),
William H. Gates III, Co-Founder, Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation; Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft
Corporation, USA; Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa;
Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Bono,
Musician, DATA (Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa), United Kingdom, and
Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria (FLTR), captured
before the start of the session 'The G-8 and Africa: Rhetoric or Action?'
at the Annual Meeting 2005 of the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, January 27, 2005.
DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
CANNOT BE MET WITHOUT PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP, ACCORDING TO CEO
SURVEY Geneva,
Switzerland, 18 January 2005 – Nine out of ten surveyed CEOs feel
that partnerships between business, government and civil society must play
either a major role or some role in addressing key development challenges
facing the world today. This is one of the key findings of a report
released by the World Economic Forum’s Global Corporate Citizenship
Initiative (GCCI). The report entitled “Partnering for
Success: Business Perspectives on Multistakeholder Partnerships”
assesses the current experience of the international business community
with multistakeholder partnerships. Partnering
for Success: Business Perspectives on Multistakeholder
Partnerships is the fourth annual report of the Global
Corporate Citizenship Initiative, produced in collaboration with The
Prince of Wales International Business Leader’s Forum (IBLF) and the
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Based on surveys
conducted with the GCCI’s over 40 member companies, the report focuses on
the innovative approaches that the GCCI member companies are taking to
build partnerships with other private enterprises, government bodies and
civil society organizations to address key international development
challenges, and to do so in a manner that makes sound business sense and
does not replace or undermine the role of government. “Many public-private
partnerships are new and untested and some of them are likely to fail.
Yet, these partnerships offer an important new approach that has the
potential to drive innovation, improve governance, raise living standards
and provide opportunity to millions of people. They deserve continued
support, engagement and evaluation from business leaders.” says Richard
Samans, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Institute
for Partnership and Governance. The World Economic
Forum report describes 15 concrete and practical ways for companies to
engage in partnerships for development. All of them are based on existing
partnership examples that GCCI member companies actively join in
or support. Between them, these alliances have engaged thousands of
different partners around the world and leveraged millions of dollars in
cash and in-kind resources. “The report reviews
the thoughts of a group of leading companies who are already committed to
being good corporate citizens. Their views reflect a growing consensus
amongst business and development circles of the importance of new types of
non-traditional alliances and funding mechanisms,” says Jane Nelson,
Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy
School of Government, Harvard University and a Director of the
International Business Leaders Forum. And she continues: “Partnership is
critical to effective problem solving of the challenges facing business
and the developing world. Simply put, the issues are too complex and
interdependent, and the resources and legitimacy for tackling them too
dispersed between sectors, for any one group to have all the solutions
alone.” The two most common
reasons that respondents gave for engaging in such partnerships were
committing to the company’s own values, principles, policies and
traditions and protecting corporate reputation and brand. Meeting project
financing, investor and other funding requirements, investing in a sound
and secure operating environment and entering into untapped or
underdeveloped markets were also listed as key reasons. The CEOs who support
the Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative emphasize that the
most important contribution they can make to development is in the way
they run their own businesses. They also recognize, however, that engaging
with stakeholders inside and outside their companies can help to leverage
the resources, skills, competencies, technology and networks of these
business operations, thereby increasing the contribution that business can
make to development. The partnership
examples identified by the GCCI companies include collective
efforts to address systemic challenges. Examples are improving the quality
of public education, reforming healthcare delivery, strengthening the
financial sector, building mechanisms to tackle corruption and supporting
specific projects. Examples of these include the training of Venezuelan
judges on human rights issues; logistics support for disaster relief in
Morocco; provision of credit and mentoring to small-scale enterprises and
youth entrepreneurs in India, South Africa and the Middle East; supply of
clean energy to rural communities in Madagascar; e-learning in Pakistan,
the Philippines and Malaysia; technical assistance for small-scale farmers
in Kenya; and efforts to tackle malaria and HIV/AIDS throughout Africa.
All of these examples shed light on one of the key leadership challenges
of our time: How to find new ways to harness the innovation, technology,
networks and problem-solving skills of the private sector, in partnership
with others, to spread the benefits of development more widely.
In the context of the
survey, companies were also asked to rank the three most important and
consistent development challenges they face in the developing countries in
which they operate. The ranking is as follows: Nearly all the
respondent companies listed China as the most important emerging market.
The other emerging markets most highly ranked were India, Brazil, Russia,
Southern Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East. The rapid economic
development and growing geopolitical significance of these markets offer
enormous long-term business potential, but pose a variety of leadership
challenges and risks for most private enterprises. These include the
challenges of dealing with fundamental economic restructuring and
uncertainty, political transition, evolving governance structures, poor
working conditions, human rights concerns, environmental stress and high
levels of inequality. All of these have important implications for
business success and survival, but none of them are issues that the
private sector can address alone. Partnering
for Success: Business Perspectives on Multistakeholder
Partnerships is produced in collaboration with The Prince of
Wales International Business Leaders Forum and the Corporate Social
Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University. Some of the findings of the survey are supported by research
conducted by SAM Sustainable Asset Management, which covers over 1,300
companies. For further
information on the Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative and
the report Partnering for Success, please
contact Stefanie Held, Senior Project Manager GCCI, at stefanie.held@weforum.org or
Valerie Weinzierl, Project Manager GCCI, at valerie.weinzierl@weforum.org. Background
Information on the Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative
(GCCI) Background
Information on the The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders
Forum (IBLF) Background
Information on The Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at the
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University To receive a
copy of the full report, please click on this link The World Economic
Forum is the foremost global community of business, political,
intellectual and other leaders of society committed to improving the state
of the world. Incorporated as a
foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is
impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or
national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (http://www.weforum.org). If you do not want to
receive further information about the World Economic Forum, click here.
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE SETTING THE
PRIORITIES FOR LEADERS IN 2005 Separate
Surveys of leaders attending the World Economic Forum and of world
citizens, show eradicating poverty and hunger a common
aim. Geneva,
Switzerland 12 January 2005 – Two surveys commissioned by the
World Economic Forum give a fascinating insight into the priorities of
world leaders for the coming year and also the priorities that their
citizens believe to be the most important. To coincide with the World
Economic forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos – to be held under the them
“Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices” – the Forum has commissioned two
separate but complementary polls on the key issues for 2005. Together with
Gallup International, the World Economic Forum asked 60,000 people in 50
countries a series of questions designed to see where they think their
leaders should be taking action and putting in the most effort. This
survey represents the views of more than 1.2 billion global citizens. At
the same time, the Forum teamed up with Weber Shandwick and put similar
questions to the more than 2,000 world leaders invited to participate in
the Annual Meeting in Davos (26-30 January) The leaders are drawn from
business, politics, civil society, academia and the media. “The two surveys are
illuminating for their similarities as well as for their differences. It
is interesting to see that both groups place eradicating poverty and
hunger and helping the poor as their top priorities. What is perhaps more
surprising is that global citizens (27%) felt that the war on terrorism
and reducing war and conflict were the most important priorities for
leaders in 2005. At our Annual Meeting in Davos we will work towards
setting the priorities on the global agenda for the coming year. This
survey gives invaluable insight into where and on what global citizens and
their leaders see the most effort is needed,” said Professor Klaus Schwab,
Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. The Gallup
International-World Economic Forum survey of more than 60,000 global
citizens shows that people think the leaders of the world should focus on
the Millennium Goal of eliminating extreme poverty and hunger as
the most important global priority for 2005, but just as many people feel
the war on terrorism is the global priority. Reducing wars
and conflicts, encouraging economic growth and improving the global
economy in the world are also identified as important global
priorities for world leaders, which echo the findings on issues where the
public feels not enough progress is being made. Other social issues, such
as promoting full equality for women, improving human rights and
overcoming AIDS and other serious health issues are deemed to be
far less important and are mentioned by fewer than 1 in 20 respondents
(5%). Interestingly, regions
show emphasis on different priorities. Western Europeans are more
concerned to reduce wars and conflicts (17%), while in Latin
America the focus is clearly on eliminating extreme poverty and
hunger (30%). For Americans, the war on terrorism takes
central stage (26%) while in Asia Pacific people feel the priority should
be on encouraging economic growth in the global economy
(21%). “Our survey of global
citizens sends a very clear message to the leaders from all sections of
society as they prepare to meet in Davos to discuss the issues that face
the world, and to set the global agenda. While war and specifically the
war on terrorism are important issues, it is still clear that eliminating
poverty and hunger are the issues that the global citizenry want tackled
by their leaders, said Meril James, Secretary-General, Gallup
International. So how do the
priorities of the global citizens vary from those of the leaders coming to
the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting? The Voice of the Leaders Survey
was carried out in cooperation with Weber Shandwick and the World Economic
Forum. Every leader taking part in the Annual Meeting in Davos was sent a
questionnaire asking about their priorities and goals for the coming year.
What emerged was that in common with the Voice of the People Survey,
improving the economic situation of the developing world is the top
priority. Here is a summary of the Weber Shandwick findings. What do you think is
the most important goal for the world as a whole? (% selecting)
For more information
on the Voice of the People survey, please visit the Gallup International
website: www. gallup-international.com and
www.voice-of-the-people.net For more information
on the Voice of the Leaders report please contact Nigel Roberts at Weber
Shandwick: Country
information: *These are not Members
of Gallup International Association but reliable companies that Gallup has
worked with in these countries. The World Economic
Forum is the foremost global community of business, political,
intellectual and other leaders of society committed to improving the state
of the world. Incorporated as a
foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is
impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or
national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (http://www.weforum.org). If you do not want to
receive further information about the World Economic Forum, click here.
STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 11 JANUARY 2005, 07.00
GMT
EXCEPTIONAL
LEADERS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN NEW MAJOR GLOBAL UNDERTAKING TO SHAPE
THE FUTURE Geneva,
Switzerland, 11 January 2005 – Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman
of the World Economic Forum, today released the names of the first 237
young leaders who have been selected and have accepted to take part in The
Forum of Young Global Leaders, working in close cooperation with the World
Economic Forum. This new global undertaking, The Forum of Young Global
Leaders, brings together outstanding leaders, aged 40 years or younger,
who have committed to devote part of their knowledge and energy over the
next five years to collectively shape a better future. Drawn from a pool of
8,000 candidates from around the world, the Young Global Leaders nominated
in 2005 have been selected by a nomination committee of 28 eminent
international media leaders, including Marjorie Scardino, Arthur
Sulzberger, Tom Glocer and Katsuji Ebisawa. The committee is chaired by
Her Majesty Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. "Rising leaders of
today need to forge viable partnerships to spearhead a process of change,”
said Her Majesty Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. “The
Forum of Young Global Leaders will activate a network of insightful,
innovative and energetic young people whose vision and dynamism can usher
a future of hope, progress and positive change." The Young Global
Leaders nominated in 2005 form an exciting, powerful network of leaders
from 69 different countries: 72 are from Europe, 62 from North America, 49
from Asia, 19 from the Middle East and North Africa, 18 from sub-Saharan
Africa and 17 from Latin America. Reflecting the
diversity of stakeholders, the Young Global Leaders nominated in 2005
comprise 57 political leaders, including heads of state, ministers and
parliamentarians. From the business sector there are 97 Young Global
Leaders, mostly chief executive officers and successful entrepreneurs. The
other stakeholders consist of 28 intellectual leaders, 27 societal
leaders, 23 active opinion leaders and 5 cultural leaders. Women make up
30% of the entire group. “We would like to
integrate those Young Global Leaders into processes which will allow them
to have a real impact on global affairs and to make sure that global
decision-making preserves the interests of the next generation,” said
Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. “The Forum
of Young Global Leaders will be a strong force from all walks of life to
shake up traditional thinking and to bring a bold, forward-looking
approach to the world.” The Young Global
Leaders will engage in the 2020 Initiative, a comprehensive effort at
addressing together the complex challenges of today to shape a better
future for our world. The Young Global Leaders will meet for the first
time as a community at their Inaugural Summit in Zermatt, Switzerland,
24-28 June 2005, where they will assess current and future trends, risks
and opportunities both at global and regional levels. The Young Global
Leaders will then develop global strategies and put forward concrete
actions to be taken today in order to advance towards a better world in
the year 2020. Please click
on the link below to see the list (sorted by region) of Young Global
Leaders nominated in 2005 : For more information
and a detailed list of all Young Global Leaders, please visit www.weforum.org/ygl The
Forum of Young Global Leaders, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is in
the process of being incorporated as an independent, not-for-profit
foundation, under the supervision of the Swiss Government. The Forum of
Young Global Leaders is comprised of leaders, aged 40 years and younger,
committed to shaping the future. The Young Global Leaders include leaders
from each of the seven geographic regions and from the worlds of politics,
business, society, learning, arts and culture. Each year, around 200 Young
Global Leaders are nominated to serve for a period of five years,
ultimately forming a community of 1,111 by 2009. The Forum of Young Global
Leaders was created by Professor Klaus Schwab in 2004 and acts in close
cooperation with the World Economic Forum in their joint commitment to
improving the state of the world. The World
Economic Forum is the foremost global community of business,
political, intellectual and other leaders of society committed to
improving the state of the world. Incorporated as a
foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is
impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or
national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. If you do not want to
receive further information about the World Economic Forum, click here.
Strictly
Embargoed until 12.00 CET Thursday 18 November World Leaders
Get Huge Vote of ‘No-Confidence’ from their
Populations ‘Voice of the
People’ survey of 50,000 people worldwide shows deep distrust of political
leaders and continuing fears for future security of the world
Geneva 18
November – The findings of a World Economic Forum survey on
security and prosperity – the Voice of the People survey – carried out by
Gallup International, makes grim reading for the world’s leaders,
particularly its politicians. Around the world respondents to the survey
overwhelmingly found that political leaders are dishonest, have too much
power and are too easily influenced by people more powerful than
they. The results come from
a new Voice of the People survey by Gallup International carried out
exclusively for the World Economic Forum. More than 50,000 people in over
60 countries across the world were interviewed from June to August 2004,
representing more than 1.2 billion citizens. The survey also finds
that business leaders are widely held in better esteem than their
political counterparts whose credibility appears to have declined even
further. But while business leaders around the world consistently have a
better image than political leaders, significant proportions still
criticize both sets of leaders on different criteria, with dishonesty
being heavily associated with political leaders. Criticism of business
leaders is mainly concentrated on two aspects: they respond to pressure
from people more powerful than they and they have too much power and
responsibility (five out of ten associate these two aspects to business
leaders worldwide). Commenting on the
findings for the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman
and Founder of the World Economic Forum, said: “The findings of this
comprehensive, global survey send a strong message to the world’s leaders.
People around the world expect and demand a lot more from their leaders
than they receive. They want leaders who are capable of courageous and
long-term decisions, acting in the best interests of a global citizenry.”
The world:
which of these do you think apply to...? The results on a
regional level show quite a variation – some regions are more tolerant of
politicians’ failings – Europe (both West and East/Central) and North
America, for example. But other regions are harshly critical, particularly
Africa, Latin America, the Indian subcontinent and most of Asia Pacific
although some countries in the latter region have different views. Across
the countries surveyed, political leaders viewed as behaving unethically
register the highest percentages in the Latin American countries of
Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico, and in India and Poland. Germany is the most
critical in Western Europe. Overall, Western
Europe is more tolerant of their politicians than some other regions. Only
on the dimensions “they have too much power and responsibility” (56%) and
“they respond to pressure from people more powerful than they” (58%) do a
majority agree that these apply to politicians. In the world, majorities
are critical of their politicians on all dimensions except two –
responding to public opinion and their competence and capabilities.
Across the countries
surveyed, criticism about the dishonesty of political leaders registers
the highest percentages in Ecuador (96%), Poland (90%), Nigeria (92%),
Bolivia (91%), Mexico (93%), Peru (91%) and India (91%), and the lowest in
Singapore (3%), the Netherlands (12%) and Malaysia (13%). Germany is the
most critical country of this aspect of all West European
countries.
Regional Assessment of Business Leaders PREDICTIONS OF
A LESS SAFE WORLD FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS Last year, the Voice
of the People on behalf of World Economic Forum investigated how people
rated the current level of security and prosperity in the world. They were
particularly asked to rate whether the future generation would live in a
world that was better, i.e. safer and more prosperous, than the world is
today. In this year’s survey, these questions were repeated with
depressing results. The next
generation will live in a less safe world Looking regionally,
almost all regions believe it will be a less safe world for future
generations. The most concern about the world's future security is shown
by Western Europeans although there is a significant decrease from last
year’s results when almost two-thirds (64%) believed the next generation
would live in a less safe world compared to only just over half (55%) in
the region who feel this is the case now. Within Western Europe,
it is significant that respondents in Germany, where leaders were critical
of the war in Iraq, are the most pessimistic in the region – 63% think the
next generation will live in a less safe world – but they are by no means
alone; majorities in most countries in this region (UK included) feel the
world will be a more dangerous place. Will the next
generation live in a world that is safer or less safe? WORLD DIVIDED
REGARDING FUTURE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY Opinions
regarding the world's economic prosperity in the future In Western Europe ,
almost all countries have negative predictions. The pessimism is led by
Germany , where 74% believe future inhabitants will suffer greater
economic problems than they do currently. This represents a growth in
pessimism in Germany since 2003 when the figure was 69%. Indeed, this
country is the most pessimistic in the world. Other pessimistic countries
in this region are Switzerland (64%) and Austria (60%). Ireland , Denmark
and Spain are the only optimistic countries in this region, as 45%, 43%
and 39% respectively believe in a more economically prosperous world in
the future. Notes for
Editors: For more information
about your region – and a fuller report, please visit the Gallup
website: Meril James,
Secretary-General, Gallup International, United Kingdom Country
information *These are not Members
of Gallup International Association but reliable companies that Gallup has
worked with in these countries. The World Economic
Forum is the foremost global community of business, political,
intellectual and other leaders of society committed to improving the state
of the world. Incorporated as a
foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is
impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or
national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (http://www.weforum.org). If you do not want to
receive further information about the World Economic Forum, click here.
Global
citizens rate eradication of poverty and hunger as the most important
Millennium Goal November 5 th
2004. More than 4 out of 10 citizens of the world (44%) agree
that the eradication of poverty and hunger is the most important priority
for the world, according to a new Voice of the People survey, carried out
for the World Economic Forum , by Gallup International . This priority is
shared in all regions, leading the agenda in all countries with only a
very few exceptions. M ore than 50,000 people in over 60 countries across
the world, were asked which of the UN Millennium Development Goals, which
all UN Member States have pledged to meet by 2015, is the most
important goal for the world as a whole. Commenting on the
findings, Meril James , Secretary General of Gallup International said,
"Our unique survey of global public opinion demonstrates broad
agreement with the Millennium Goals which were set but it is now up to the
worlds' leaders to deliver these goals." Most Important Goals
for the World as a whole The results of the
survey were released in Brazil , at the Schwab Foundation for Social
Entrepreneurship's Global Summit 2004, taking place 4-6 November in
Campinas . "We gather the best social entrepreneurs in the world. All of
them without exception are tackling the Millennium Goals through social
innovation, often in a more effective manner than governments and
corporations, who could learn from their approaches" said Pamela
Hartigan, Managing Director of the Schwab Foundation. Other findings of the
survey: • Consensus
prevails around the world that the eradication of poverty and hunger is
the highest priority; yet the remaining objectives generate more divided
opinions. Amongst the other declared Millennium Goals, four issues appear
stronger than the others: developing a global partnership to help the poor
and underdeveloped; ensuring environmental sustainability; combating AIDS/
HIV and other diseases; and achieving universal primary education, with 1
in 10 globally mentioning each of these. • The results
show some interesting regional patterns regarding priorities. Combating
AIDS/HIV, malaria and other diseases has a higher priority in Africa , a
continent ravaged by these diseases. Rapid economic growth and a fragile
ecological balance lead many in Asia Pacific to prioritise environmental
sustainability. There are also some specific countries that give special
emphasis to individual goals. For example, universal primary education is
identified as a more important priority in countries as diverse as Iceland
(26%), Brazil (28%) and India (22%). Regional
priorities Poverty and
hunger Develop global
partnership Environmental
sustainability Combat
diseases Universal
primary education Total sample 44% 12% 10% 10% 10% Western Europe
41% 14% 10% 12% 9% Eastern and Central Europe
49% 5% 11% 14% 4% Africa 49% 15% 1% 22% 5% North America
29% 14% 12% 10% 19% Latin America
50% 13% 3% 8% 13% Middle East (*)
62% 12% 3% 4% 9% West Asia (**)
51% 6% 3% 7% 18% Asia Pacific 36% 15% 21% 7% 8%
Extreme care: To Combat
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases: a most important goal for Africans
and a growing concern in some Eastern European countries. Combating
HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases appears a stronger priority in
Africa where it signaled as the most important objective by more than one
in five (22%) in the region as a whole; and by more than four out of ten
Ghanaians (42%), and three out of ten Cameroonians (34%), South Africans
(32%) and Kenyans (27%). Only in Nigeria is the figure lower and only just
over 1 in 10 set this as a goal (13%). In
Eastern and Central Europe, eradicating diseases like AIDS/HIV and malaria
is not given a significantly higher priority than elsewhere, but certain
countries show higher concerns. In Ukraine, more than a quarter (26%) rate
this as a priority, as do one in five Estonians (21%) and their neighbours
in Lithuania (20%). Eradication of such diseases is also given great priority in
Vietnam, where one in three (33%) rate this as the highest goal for the
world – a proportion similar to those rating extreme poverty and hunger as
the most important global priority. Notes for
Editors: For further
information: On Brazil: On other Latin
American countries: The Gallup
International Association, now registered in Zurich was established in
1947 by George H Gallup and his European colleagues. It now has member
agencies in 60 countries across the world, conducting market and opinion
research in more than 100 countries.
The World Economic Forum has been informed of allegations in the press against José María Figueres that are related with his years of public service in Costa Rica . In this press reporting, the Forum became aware that he had a significant contractual agreement with another company whilst working in a leading position at the Forum over two and a half years.
"The Summit will also help to identify how social entrepreneurial initiatives can be brought to scale, and will aim to stimulate action steps to be taken in a year's time to increase the impact of the field of social entrepreneurship," said Klaus Schwab, President and Founder of the Schwab Foundation. "I am very proud of the 84 fantastic social entrepreneurs that the Foundation has identified. They are the real heroes of today's world," he added.
Pamela Hartigan, Managing Director of the Schwab Foundationi, mentioned that "the success of social entrepreneurs lies in their approach. Their practical and innovative focus on social problems, coupled with a dogged determination that allows them to break away from constraints imposed by ideology or field of discipline, pushes them to take risks that others wouldn't dare. They are driven by a healthy impatience. They don't do well in bureaucracies because they don't wait for things to happen. They are social change agents that make things happen." She added that "whether they create for profit or not-for-profit organizations, the primary goal of a social entrepreneur is social value creation, using the market as a means to that end."
Among the 300 participants, 84 Schwab Social Entrepreneurs from 74 different organizations (7 from Africa, 23 from Asia, 2 from Australia, 8 from Europe, 19 from Latin America, 15 from North America) will be exhibiting their work. The 15 new Schwab Social Entrepreneurs 2004 who have just been nominated will gather for the very first time at the Global Summit 2004 in Brazil.
Two of our nominees this year, Andrea and Barry Coleman, will be attending the Global Summit 2004. They met through their common passion - motorcycle racing. On a trip to Somalia, they were shocked to see so many vehicles, many of them new, rotting in car parks and streets and realized that the lack of mobility, particularly for local health professionals, is hampering any kind of progress in Africa - especially in the vital area of disease prevention and eradication. They started Riders for Health to introduce an integrated system incorporating training in driving skills, daily maintenance procedures and interval preventative maintenance. By using a motorcycle, health and other aid workers have increased their number of visits to remote communities by 300%. Riders for Health believes that with each motorcycle it runs, 20,000 people receive primary healthcare each year. Their slogan: "You can't save a child unless you can reach him."
Foundation Board Member Paulo Coelho said "Social entrepreneurship is about lighting a flame in the dark. It is about perseverance, overcoming one's fears and respecting one's intuition as a guide, and keeping one's expectations very, very high." The Global Summit 2004 will be attended by a unique crowd of outstanding individuals who have found solutions and creative ways to make the world a better place.
THE SCHWAB FOUNDATION FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP identifies, selects and provides recognition for the most outstanding social entrepreneurs around the world whose work has significantly improved people's lives. It builds a strong fellowship among them. The Foundation provides a global platform where currently 84 social entrepreneurs from 30 different countries promote social entrepreneurship as a key element to advance societies and address social problems in an innovative and effective manner.
Every year, the Schwab Foundation looks for candidates and receives hundreds of suggestions through its network of nominators. Nominees undergo an extensive due diligence process which includes research, interviews, expert evaluations and site visits. For the fourth consecutive year, out of a pool of over 100 candidates, the Schwab Foundation has selected 15 outstanding Social Entrepreneurs and their organizations that were announced in September.
Founded by Klaus and Hilde Schwab in 1998, the Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to the Founders, its Board Members include Paulo Coelho (Brazil), Quincy Jones (USA), Zanele Mbeki (South Africa), Paul Hodge (United States), Adolf Ogi (Switzerland), Lord David Puttnam (United Kingdom) and Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh). Pamela Hartigan is the Foundation's Managing Director.
For more information about the Schwab Foundation, please contact Claudia Gonzalez-Gisiger and Solenn de Kersauson at press@schwabfound.org
"The Nordic countries are characterized by excellent macroeconomic management overall they are all running budget surpluses they have extremely low levels of corruption, with their firms operating in a legal environment in which there is widespread respect for contracts and the rule of law, and their private sectors are on the forefront of technological innovation. These countries prove the point that enhanced competitiveness and boosting the capacity of economies to operate effectively in the global economy is a multifaceted challenge requiring concerted actions on a number of fronts", said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of the World Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Programme.
The rankings are drawn from the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, which this year polled over 8,700 business leaders in 104 economies worldwide. The survey questionnaire is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy's business environment that are key determinants of sustained economic growth. Particular attention is placed on elements of the macroeconomic environment, the quality of public institutions which underpin the development process, and the level of technological readiness and innovation.
"Over the last several years the World Economic Forum's Growth Competitiveness Index has been a useful tool in thinking about key macroeconomic and institutional elements, critical to the growth process. The present rankings continue to provide policy-makers, businesses and organizations of civil society with valuable insights into areas where further progress is called for, in order to improve the environment for private sector economic activity, and generate sustainable growth", said Lopez-Claros.
Highlights
"The Global Competitiveness Report- now in its 25th year of publication - has become a primary source of information on the strengths and weaknesses of over 100 economies, accounting for the bulk of global GNP. It is an invaluable reference guide for business leaders and policy-makers, as they endeavour to cooperate to create an environment which is more supportive of private sector economic activity. Increasingly, through insightful essays on various aspects of the economic agenda for improved reform and competitiveness, the Report is also making an important intellectual contribution to addressing some of the most intractable problems we face as we attempt to improve the state of the world", noted Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
The World Economic Forum continues to expand geographic coverage of The Global Competitiveness Report, currently featuring a total of 104 economies, of which the new entrants this year include Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia and the United Arab Emirates, making this Report the most comprehensive of its type.
Co-Directors of The Global Competitiveness Report are Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrence Professor at Harvard Business School, Harvard University. Professor Porter presents the results of the Business Competitiveness Index (BCI), an especially useful complement to the GCI, with its emphasis on a range of company-specific factors conducive to improved efficiency and productivity at the micro level, such as the sophistication of the operating practices and strategies of companies, and the quality of the microeconomic business environment in which a nation's companies compete. Results of the BCI rankings are fully reported in the Executive Summary and available online at http://www.weforum.org/gcr
This year's Report contains a number of studies that address different aspects of competitiveness and, more generally, themes which emanate from the World Economic Forum's deep concern with growth and development. Of particular note are Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin's contribution on the development of more comprehensive competitiveness indicators, bringing in key factors not previously considered in the Forum's recent competitiveness work; Dr Daniel Kaufmanns study on governance and corruption in high-income countries; Dr Peter Heller's paper examining the long-term fiscal implications of population aging, climate change and globalization; Professor William Easterly's look at the issue of why foreign aid has not been more successful in boosting the competitiveness of poor countries; Dr Arthur Dahl's interesting use of the Forum's Survey to cast light on the issue of why environmental responsibility makes good business sense; and Dr Stefan Tangermann's analysis of the glaring inefficiencies associated with the subsidization of agriculture in OECD countries and the needed reforms, among others.
The Report contains a detailed country profile for each of the 104 economies featured in the study, providing a comprehensive summary of the overall position in the Index rankings as well as a guide to what are considered to be the most prominent competitive advantages and competitive disadvantages of each. Also included is an extensive section of data tables with global rankings on over 100 indicators.
Should you require country profiles or specific information, please contact gcp@weforum.org
FedEx Corporation is the Partner of The Global Competitiveness Report 2004-2005
The World Economic Forum is the foremost global community of business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society committed to improving the state of the world.
Incorporated as a foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (http://www.weforum.org)
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM - TECHNOLOGY PIONEERS: HELP US CHOOSE THE "CLASS OF 2006"
Thursday 21 April, Geneva, Switzerland - The World Economic Forum is seeking nominations for the 2006 class of Technology Pioneers. The Technology Pioneer programme, started in 2000, identifies chief executives of companies that develop and apply the most innovative and transformational technologies.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME - SEARCH FOR CANDIDATES BEGINS
Leadership Fellows to receive Master's in Global Leadership
Russia, in 62nd place, is clearly operating well below its potential.
Contact: Mark Adams
Head of Media
World Economic Forum
Tel.:
+41 (0)79 615 16 71
E-mail: mark.adams@weforum.org
http://www.weforum.org
Source: World Economic
Forum
1. Promoting good
governance and tackling corruption
2. Alleviating poverty
3.
Achieving sustained economic growth and education
4. Sustaining peace
and security
5. Eliminating HIV/AIDS
6. Securing access to energy
and water.
Launched in July 2001, the World Economic Forum's
Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative (GCCI) has the objective of
increasing business engagement in corporate citizenship as an element of
business strategy. With over 40 company members representing a variety of
regions and sectors, the Initiative concentrates on defining and
facilitating the leadership role of CEOs and boards in integrating into
business practice policies that respond to the evolving expectations of
society regarding the responsibilities of companies in a global economy.
Using the Forum's Annual, Regional, and Governor meetings as platforms,
Initiative members exert thought leadership and expand the market for
enlightened corporate citizenship in cooperation with experts and other
organizations around the globe that specialize in corporate
responsibility. For further information, please go to http://www.weforum.org/corporatecitizenship
The Prince of Wales International Business
Leaders Forum (IBLF) was formed to promote responsible business practices
internationally that benefit business and society, and which help to
achieve social, economic and environmentally sustainable development,
particularly in new and emerging market economies. The IBLF focuses on
building partnerships as a more effective and legitimate approach to
engaging business in development. It has built close and longstanding
working relationships with its member companies, and with a broad range of
national and international agencies, NGOs, business associations and media
around the world and has a current membership at CEO level or above from
more than 65 of the world’s leading multinational companies. For more
information see www.iblf.org
The Corporate
Social Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government,
Harvard University is a multi-disciplinary program that undertakes
research, education and outreach activities, to study and enhance the
public role of private enterprise and develop the next generation of
leaders. It focuses on exploring the intersection between corporate
responsibility, corporate governance and strategy, public policy, and the
media. The initiative is a cooperative effort between the Kennedy School’s
Center for Business and Government, Center for Public Leadership, Hauser
Center for Non-Profit Organizations, and Joan Shorenstein Center on the
Press, Politics and Public Policy. For more information see www.ksg.harvard.edu/cbg/CSRI
http://www.weforum.org/documents/gcci/FINAL_GCCI_PPP-Report_2004-2005_120105.pdf
or contact: Stefanie Held, Senior Project Manager GCCI, at stefanie.held@weforum.org,
tel.: +41 22 869 12 00 or Valerie Weinzierl, Project Manager GCCI, at valerie.weinzierl@weforum.org,
tel.: +41 22 869 12 98.
Contact: Mark Adams
Head
of Media
Tel.: +41 (0) 22 869 1210
Fax: +41 (0) 22 869
1394
E-mail: mark.adams@weforum.org
http://www.weforum.org
Source:
Gallup International Voice of the People Survey
Source: KRC Research
Notes for Editors:
Meril James, Secretary-General, Gallup
International, United
Kingdom
Gallup.International@BTInternet.com
Nigel Roberts
Head Strategic Media Group and
Broadcast
Weber Shandwick
Direct telephone: +44 (0)20 7067
0337
Mobile telephone: +44 (0)79 5768 0513
Please click on this link to view the
table: Country
Information NEW REPORT INVESTIGATES WHY SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT HAS YET TO BE EMBRACED BY THE MAINSTREAM FINANCIAL COMMUNITY
Major Improvements in Pension Fund Governance Needed
Geneva , Switzerland , 13 January 2005 A company that profits while doing harm to the community is likely to suffer in the long run. Yet the mainstream financial community has so far placed little emphasis on social, environmental and ethical issues in its investment decisions . T his can be changed, as the new report released by the World Economic Forums Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative(GCCI) and the London-based think tank, AccountAbility, reveals. The report entitled Mainstreaming Responsible Investment identifies the key impediments to broader consideration of non-financial factors by the mainstream investment community, and explores changes in policies and practices that could tip systemic change in the investment community in this direction.
Mainstreaming Responsible Investment is the outcome of a series of three expert roundtables during 2003 and 2004 . As Simon Zadek, Chief Executive of AccountAbility, observed: The Report is based on two years of deep discussions on the topic involving practitioners themselves. Its findings and recommendations draw directly from the perspectives of pension fund trustees and executives, portfolio managers of mainstream asset management firms, as well as buy-side and sell-side analysts.
We found that the issue is decidedly not the personal values of these market participants but rather the framework of industry customs, structure and regulation in which they operate. It is the combination of available information, participant competencies and, most of all, institutionalized incentives that drive behaviour, said Richard Samans, Managing Director of the World Economic Forums Global Institute for Partnership and Governance.
Highlighting the systemic nature of the problem, fund managers point to the role of their clients in driving their focus on short-term performance. As one fund manager argued, As long as client [e.g., pension fund trustee] mandates require us to deliver performance benchmarked against short-term market tracker indexes, we will of course remain short term in our outlook. Analysts, similarly, argued that they could rarely advance social and environmental performance issues as long as their clients, fund managers, are only concerned with drivers of short-term performance and market valuations. One analyst summarized his experience thus: Strategic research on future social and environmental risks and opportunities got me my five minutes of fame. But there were no buyers for the work, and this is what counts at the end of the day. Given the choice again, if I want to stay in business, I would not do such research.
Mainstreaming Responsible Investment includes a series of recommendations for the reform of industry practices and public policy. These draw upon chapters contributed by three distinguished expert practitioners from different segments of the investment value chain: Mehdi Mahmud, Executive Vice-President of Jennison Associates (asset management); Francis Condon, until recently Head of European Steel Research, ABN AMRO Equities (investment analysis); and Stephen Davis, President of Davis Global Advisors (pension fund trustee advisers), respectively.
The report paints a picture of rising pressure for change in the financial community, driven largely by the changing composition of corporate share ownership due to population aging and the related growth in private retirement savings. Investors in pension funds, mutual funds and insurance policies now collectively own the majority of shares in key markets. Their investment horizons are inherently long term, as their savings are intended mainly to support retirement, the education of their children or other long-term family needs. Yet the pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies investing money on their behalf typically do so in a very short-term manner, with results and asset management contracts evaluated almost exclusively on the basis of short-term indicators that do not incorporate social, ethical and environmental aspects of corporate performance that generally become material to financial performance only over time.
A particular problem, said Samans, is that most pension funds fail to meet the bedrock governance standards they increasingly demand of companies, and trustees are often poorly equipped for their duties.
The real owners of capital in todays markets are you and me, the intended beneficiaries of the pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies. The responsibility of institutional investors must be to meet our intrinsic interests, which go far beyond near-term returns since we have long-term needs and depend on the long-term vitality and health of our societies economies, communities and the natural environment. Our interests must be that trustees and fund managers acting on our behalf take into account material social and environmental aspects of corporate performance, said Zadek.
Contact: Martina Gmur
Project Manager, The Forum of Young
Global Leaders
E-mail: martina.gmur@weforum.org
Phone:
+41 22 869 1492
Fax: +41 22 786 2744
http://www.weforum.org
Young Global
Leaders (PDF, 7 p., 124 KB)
Information
will also be available at our website, www.younggloballeaders.org
which will be live beginning 11 January 2005.
Contact: Mark Adams
Head
of Media
Tel.: +41 (0) 22 869 1210
Fax: +41 (0) 22 869
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http://www.weforum.org
Source:
Gallup International Association – Voice of the People 2004
Source:
Gallup International Association – Voice of the People 2004
Extreme care: (*) Turkey and Israel only (**) India and
Pakistan
Consistently, business leaders enjoy much better
public perceptions than political leaders. Across the world, they score
lower on all the negative dimensions measured in the survey than do
political leaders. Nonetheless, significant proportions of the population
still criticize some aspects of business leaders in all
regions.
Source: Gallup International Association – Voice of the People 2004
Extreme care: (*) Egypt, Turkey and Israel only (**) India and
Pakistan
Germany, together with Albania and Costa Rica, is
the country in the world that condemns business leaders the most for
behaving unethically (69% compared to only 39% globally). The condemnation
of business leaders by German citizens continues with seven out of every
ten Germans (70%) thinking that business leaders are
dishonest.
Source: Gallup International Association – Voice of the People 2004
Extreme care: (*) Egypt , Turkey and Israel only (**) India ,
Pakistan and Afghanistan only
Extreme care: (*) Egypt , Turkey and
Israel only (**) India , Pakistan and Afghanistan only
http://www.gallup-international.com
and http://www.voice-of-the-people.net
Gallup.International@BTInternet.com
Fax:
+44 20 8983 4105
Tel.: +44 20 8983 4509
Mobile : +44 77 1012 4650.
Country
Albania*
Argentina
Afghanistan*
Austria
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Herzegovina
Brazil *
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Canada
Costa
Rica*
Croatia
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Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
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(*)
Egypt, Turkey and Israel only
(**) India and Pakistan only
The Voice of the People Survey
Gallup
International’s unique annual survey Voice of the People interviews more
than 50,000 people in more than 60 countries around the world,
representing the views and attitudes of more than 1 billion global
citizens. Fieldwork was conducted between June and August 2004.
On Gallup International:
Meril James, Secretary
General, Gallup International Association at +44 771 012 46 50
Gallup.International@BTInternet.com
Paulo
Secches at +11 3759 47 77
secches@interscience.com.br
Constanza Cilley at + 54 9 11 4140 9733
constanza.cilley@tns-gallup.com.arSTATEMENT FROM THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Geneva , Switzerland 29 October 2004 - José María Figueres has offered his resignation with immediate effect as Chief Executive Officer of the World Economic Forum. This resignation has been accepted.
José María Figueres has tendered his resignation on the basis that he had clearly breached the rules of the World Economic Forum by not declaring that he was being retained as a consultant when he took the post and whilst he was working at the Forum. This issue has no bearing on the allegations made against José María Figueres regarding those payments in Costa Rica .
The five remaining members of the Managing Board have fully assumed the functions of their former colleague under the leadership of the Executive Chairman, Klaus Schwab.
The World Economic Forum is the foremost global community of business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society committed to improving the state of the world. Incorporated as a foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (http://www.weforum.org)
GLOBAL SUMMIT OF THE "WORLD'S REAL HEROES" TAKES PLACE IN BRAZIL
Geneva, Switzerland - 14 October 2004. For the first time, more than 80 "real global heroes" will gather at the Global Summit 2004 of the Schwab Foundation from 4 to 6 November in Campinas, Brazil. Focusing on the theme "The Future of Social Entrepreneurship: How BIG Can Small Get?", the Summit will provide a platform for Social Entrepreneurs to meet with other leaders from society such as government, companies and international development organizations to foster collective action to find practical solutions to complex social and economic challenges.
PRESS RELEASE
http://www.weforum.org
NORDIC COUNTRIES LEAD THE WAY IN THE
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM'S 2004
COMPETITIVENESS RANKINGSUnited Kingdom, Japan, Chile, Canada and Estonia all gain positions US remains in second place
Geneva, Switzerland 13 October 2004 - Finland remains the most competitive economy in the world and tops the rankings for the second consecutive year in The Global Competitiveness Report 2004-2005, released today by the World Economic Forum. The United States is in second position, followed by Sweden, Taiwan, Denmark and Norway, consecutively.