Deliberations at Davos

Jan 26, 2009 Editorial

One has to hand it to President Jagdeo; he’s always on the go trying to drum up support for Guyana’s development — economic or otherwise.

While there are no official figures, we are sure that the President has clocked in more frequent-flyer miles than any of his predecessors. Just back from his visit to North Africa and the Middle East, where he worked to secure a piece of Libya’s US$70 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund (an imminent visit by Libyan investors was promised) the President has announced that he will be jetting up to the World Economic Forum’s annual get-together in Davos, Switzerland. So what exactly goes on at Davos?

The growth of the event since it was founded in 1971 by a Swiss economics professor, Klaus Schwab, is astonishing. From small, quite private beginnings as a way of bringing business and political leaders together to establish common ground and objectives, the WEF today is a rampaging mega-event that companies and countries alike unashamedly use as a marketing opportunity.

The five-day gathering of the economic movers and shakers of the world, maybe not so fortuitously, also coincided with the rise of globalisation, and became, in the last decade, its de facto cheerleader.

The merits and purpose of its interminable meetings are perhaps open to debate. While there are the networking opportunities, it is arguable whether there are many tangible consequences. Some important initiatives in international cooperation, however, are said to have had their origins in Davos: the World Trade Organisation, (WTO) sprang from an idea born in Davos on the need for a global umpire to secure fairness in trade relations.

The idea is to bring together as many world leaders, business executives and NGO heads as possible (last year, 30 world leaders and 2500 guests were announced. This year promises to be bigger and better), sequester them in a chic Swiss ski resort for a week, and present them with a pre-set agenda.

There is inevitably some heavy partying, skiing and the occasional star-gazing (Angela Jolie showed up a few years ago); and, of course, fixing the world problems.

In protest against its status quo bias, pro-development NGO’s have sometimes organised parallel sessions, but more radical protests are roped away from the ski resort. Back in 2001, anti-globalisation groups hosted a counter WEF conference in Brazil, “The World is Not a Market”, to discuss strategies to oppose World Bank and IMF policies.

Last year, even though a couple of invitees (literally, the billionaire George Soros and the economist Nouriel Roubini) were predicting the coming crisis, the overwhelming majority predicted more of the ongoing good times. At the conclusion, the heavyweights issued a joint statement vowing to make 2008 a turning point in the fight against poverty.

The world is facing a “development emergency”, they said, pledging to “work together to help the world get back on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals.” We know how far that pledge went.

This year, with the financial crisis roiling the capitals of the developed world, and many of the major global corporations staring at ruin in the face, the founder of the WEF predicted, “What we are experiencing is the birth of a new era, a wake-up call to overhaul our institutions, our systems and, above all, our way of thinking.”

The theme has been announced as ‘Shaping the Post-Crisis World’ with the specific sub-themes of Restoring Growth; Effective Governance; The Global Agenda beyond Economics; Values and Leadership and The Next Wave.

While we are sure that President Jagdeo will be very diligent in seeking to present Guyana’s case for attention in our quest for development funding – private or otherwise – we are not sure that, in the present climate of doom for the whole neo-liberal order, the response may be as positive as he hopes.

As with the G20 meeting held in Washington in November of last year, while lip service will be offered to subjects of interest to countries in the developing world, for instance, getting the WTO Doha Round negotiations back on track, little of substantive action will ensue – especially for small economies like ours.

The bilateral trade agreements will continue to proliferate (now over 400 and counting), as will protectionist measures, as countries such as the US seek to revive their real economies. But then, even crumbs are of consequence to us.