Nelson Mandela first appeared in Davos in 1992.
Keystone
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The third level remains.
This affects public-private partnerships. I am proud that a breakfast from Bill Gates, the World Health Organization and myself in Davos, twenty years ago, gave rise to the idea for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, just as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan once shared with me the Global Compact in the small closet unhooked and then presented in Davos. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS and Malaria was also created in Davos.
In the past few years you have published two books on the fourth industrial revolution and founded numerous so-called centers for the fourth industrial revolution around the world, for which over 100 of your approximately 800 employees work. What do you find so fascinating about it?
The new, the technologies. They will change our lives. Now we’re all talking about artificial intelligence, but no organization in the world is concerned with the ethical aspects of it and the principles that must be established to comply with them. I think you can no longer mandate parliamentary commissions to discuss a bill after five to six years. Today’s progress is so fast that the system has to regulate itself, so to speak. This is only possible if you bring companies and governments together permanently. And we help that the best people from science are there too.
For example?
Together with the government of Rwanda, we have developed rules for the use of drones that are now being adopted by many other African countries in Africa. In San Francisco, with the participation of 27 governments, we developed a set of rules for the use of artificial intelligence in public procurement. In Davos we will now present principles for the use of digital currencies, which we have developed together with around a dozen central banks as well as experts from science, the financial sector and multilateral organizations. We will then issue a white paper.
National banks have their committees, the economy has its associations and institutions, what is the need for the WEF?
So that they work together effectively. And that works. By the end of the year, we will have 20 centers for the fourth industrial revolution that will work together worldwide.
First you organized a conference, then you tied corporations to yourself through memberships and then you formed networks. And now?
Now we want to be the platforms for the issues where the private and public sectors have to work together globally.
What do you hope for from this year’s WEF?
The political cannot be predetermined. But our many platforms all have their own working sessions and are supposed to make progress in Davos.
The motto this year is “Stakeholders for a cohesive and sustainable world”. Are we expecting a Greta WEF?
Greta is an impressive young woman, but I don’t want Greta to instrumentalize me. We have now invited ten Gretas under the age of twenty, all of whom have a special concern. For example, Ms. Melati, who got the whole Indonesian plastic policy rolling. By the way, we are also one of the most sustainable conferences. We have no influence on whether participants travel by private plane, but we compensate for all COtwoEmissions.
Now President Donald Trump wants to participate in the WEF for the second time. Why does he like it?
I think it’s very good that he is taking part in such a multilateral event.
When the US President comes, it’s all about him. Doesn’t that harm the WEF idea?
No, many always think that the annual meeting is structured around certain particularly well-known people. This is nonsense. The participants come to Davos because the most important decision-makers from business and politics meet here. From the political side, there is a ministerial delegation from practically every important country, and from the economic side alone, over 300 of the 300 most important companies worldwide are represented by their boss.
That is why many consider the WEF to be the meeting of a withdrawn global elite.
It is a complete misunderstanding. We also have the heads of the large non-governmental organizations in Davos, top scientists, global shapers and young global leaders, social entrepreneurs and artists. This broad exchange is what makes the annual meeting in Davos so special.
Because there are so many important people, the agenda of many participants has already been checked. Isn’t the dialogue lost there?
Bilateral meetings are not so much the problem, but completely foreign organizations that use the presence of decision-makers to hold their own mini-conferences. This drives up prices and puts a strain on traffic.
Isn’t Davos too small for such an occasion?
Davos is the global village. It is a brand in itself, with its mountain scenery, its charm. You can walk practically anywhere, you meet on the promenade. And Davos has the advantage that it is two hours away from the airport. You don’t just get there for a day, you stay. With a maximum of 3000 participants, the forum has a size that Davos can still handle and we don’t want to exceed. We don’t want to be a mass event.
The Swiss Confederation and the cantons have to make extraordinary efforts every year to ensure the security of illustrious guests. Some wonder: What do they get out of it, besides costs?
An investigation by the University of St. Gallen has shown that the tax revenue generated by the World Economic Forum is higher than the expenditure of the public sector. Then there is the not insignificant marketing value of the meeting for Davos and Switzerland. And the signal of openness and connectivity that Switzerland sends with it.
According to your annual report, the WEF generated a turnover of CHF 344.7 million in 2019 and had an endowment capital of CHF 345.6 million. Couldn’t it cover the security costs yourself?
It is a country’s duty to ensure the security of foreign politicians. Official Switzerland must know whether it wants to receive foreign state guests. Our annual accounts were almost balanced. The endowment capital of the World Economic Forum has grown because we are growing and soliciting new contributions for new tasks. Around half of this is tied up in fixed assets. Cash and cash equivalents are just half of sales. We also need it because of the risk. Imagine that the annual meeting had to be canceled at short notice.
Let’s end our conversation as we started – with you. You still spend a large part of your time on airplanes.
I made 16 overseas trips last year.
You are now 81 years old. How do you do it?
Through curiosity, joy in what I do and discipline. Nature is very important to me and I go swimming every day.
Her son Oliver also works on the management board of the WEF. Will this become a family business?
No, definitely not. My son could work anywhere else at any time. The forum is now a foundation recognized as an international organization for public-private partnership with clear corporate governance rules. This is intentional because the forum must make the transition from a donor-dominated to an institutionalized organization.
You have worked as a business professor for good corporate governance. Wouldn’t it be time you settled your succession?
If my position becomes vacant, the best successor will be chosen. The organization is now set up so that it works in any case. The World Economic Forum is not Klaus Schwab, and it is not there either because Klaus Schwab had a good idea. The forum is the answer to the need for different stakeholders to work together on global future issues.
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