Is Davos Cutting Ice At Fifty? Listening To & Not Talking Down To World’s Young Will Help

assumption that Davos will solve world’s problems is as silly as thinking Artificial Intelligence (AI) will make human beings intelligent. Yes, it is most important publicised garing of rich people in world, but as Swiss say, money talks and wealth whispers. re’s a lot of former in Davos over past dece. re are or quieter meetings in Switzerland that guard ir privacy as Swiss people do.

As Davos turns 50 and asks itself question what it has achieved, my view is that question is too bro to capture many successes forum has enabled be that in placing sworn enemies around table to talk peace, give a b conscience to world’s richest and greediest chasing profit at all cost and this year by default or design, telling summiteers that y are under constant watch, wher at Davos or Washington, Brussels, New Delhi or Beijing about climate change.

Climate change is t business as usual. Let that sink in.

Climate change is about money and investments in ways people in Davos have never seen before. It is facile to say Wall Street will lose power to Greta Thunberg because Australia is burning and glaciers are melting, but this much can be said. Half a generation of young people around world including in India are asking questions of treaties and negotiations, science and techlogies developed for m. An entire generation is asking why disease and guns kill if entire careers have been me on finding vaccines and negotiating peace deals. Will women and people of color always be portrayed as weak and begging? Millions are asking who is paying, for whom and to what effect? body has an answer and a few Davos pundits are first to ackwledge that world needs a serious course correction. One person, I spoke to said what if re was Davos in 2021? Think.

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story goes that Klaus Schwab who hes Davos (and was a professor of ecomics in Geneva University) was inspired by United States (US) Secretary of Labour George Schultz who

would gar people around Jacuzzis in California to discuss geopolitics, jobs, tre and industry without minders and spooks. Ski slopes were Schwab’s answer to Jacuzzis and what was once a Swiss vill full of sanatoriums for patients recovering from tuberculosis is a yearly spot where leers gar to talk about public health, AI and eating vegan food.

Up until 25 years ago, Davos ( event, t vill) was sane and relatively inexpensive a place people could hold discussions, exchange views and build relationships speak to spooks and spies. Yes, spooks and spies going around ir business of collecting data. Media access was fairly limited and journalists respected journalism and people spoke off record.

n Silicon Valley happened to Davos – first good, n b and finally terrible. A few years later, might of new tre rules under umbrella of World Tre Organisation (WTO) unfurled on world and leers realised that Davos’ skiing slopes h met domestic ecomic slalom. Americans with long interminable sentences and limited kwledge of world discovered fondue in which y dipped potatoes. Culture is a comment.

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Indians were amongst earliest groups to embrace Davos that was originally called European Ecomic Forum (EEF) based out of Geneva ( WEF’s offices are based in Geneva). first Indian businessperson to attend such a session was late far of Pune based Baba Kalyani, Founder and CEO of Bharat Forge (BF). or Pune businessperson Rahul Bajaj holds world record for attending almost all Davos sessions without a break. He is an institution in Davos.

In fact, Indian presence in early years was all business people. Bombay club as y were called. Builders of companies and developers of ideas, people of kwledge and let us just say it as it should be – people who could hold a conversation without having to say ‘do you kw who I am’? n came Delhi crowd bringing with it what Delhi brings – politics without plans, attitude without positions except for saying India was shinning to bored audiences and empty rooms. Bureaucrats looking for jobs for mselves and ir family ordinary pursuits riding on ambitions of a grand nation.

This is also where India’s Foreign Minister Mhavsinh Solanki handed over an unsigned te to his Swiss counterpart René Félber asking him to close Bofors investigation. That te was leaked to me (I was t attending Davos that year) and Solanki h to resign. I bring it up here because Davos is also where trustworthy relationships are built and lifelong friendships forged beyond flashlights and selfies.

So what is best use of Davos? Does business gets transacted in alpine vill? best use of Davos as I have seen it from various perspectives is that it is a business forum. where on earth can CEO of a multinational company meet between 20 and 30 counterparts in two days. Calendars and time zones mean meetings can take years to schedule. Davos is on CEO’s calendars including some very crooked ones. se appointments are set up months in vance in run-up to Davos.

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This is also where business people get to meet ir political leers without minders. Take India, for example. It is fairly impossible if t impractical for an Indian businessperson to get past babudom to spend time with a minister in a convivial environment discussing business and music, food and poetry. Indian businesspeople and some politicians value this kind of time, as do ir counterparts from all over world. Unfortunately, Davos has become very expensive and crowded leing smart CEO stays at Klosters – a short train ride down from Davos – to do two or three round trips and leave by Wednesday which is also when people who understand game start shutting down. On Wednesday Davos will be over for all practical purposes.

United Nations (UN) family cuts a sorry figure at Davos, as do hes of multilateral and bilateral ncies. y set up expensive stalls and offer free food and drinks to a generation that finds m funny and irritating. Davos is t going to help you make a point if you have failed elsewhere. y are out of touch and social media is t a twitter account unless you are called Donald Trump. Journalists interviewing one ar – what do you think is going to happen next, or what is your Davos takeaway - while waiting to interview important people is passé. It is a precious waste of money and time. Stop singing.

Everyone has his or her favourite Davos story. Besides l’affaire Solanki, mine is time when toger with Mr. S. Ramorai, former CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), we brought Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari racing car to one street vill and

caused a traffic jam. Movers and shakers of billion-dollar companies stood in line to touch master’s jewel. As someone who understands speed and risk, I will write about it one day, in ar form and forum.

Till n, do stop and think – what do we want to happen in Davos 2021? I believe world needs an entirely new alphabet, a new grammar, and fresh hope. I see undercurrents of good. I keep faith.

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