It was 11 years ago that I first discovered Davos, the sleepy little village of 10,000 snowbound inhabitants in the heart of Switzerland that had become a synonym for what’s hot in global economic thought. As a United Nations official working with then Secretary-General Kofi Annan, I accompanied him to Davos several times starting in 1997. This year, after a gap of many years, I returned for the first time in an individual capacity. I was intrigued, of course, that this ski resort in the Swiss Alps, blessed with essentially one main street and 20 overcrowded hotels of varying quality, annually hosts a five-day talkfest which attracts an astonishing number of the world’s top entrepreneurs, thinkers, and political leaders “committed to improving the state of the world”. Invitations are prized and much sought after, even though they have to be paid for in real money. The atmosphere of cutting-edge policy debate is sustained by an impressive array of intellectuals, thinkers and writers among the “faculty”, and the quality of the attendees’ list has ensured that Davos gathers more heads of government in one spot than any other place bar the United Nations General Assembly.

The Prime Ministers and Presidents appear on panels themselves, but they are largely in Davos to talk to the big businessmen present, who might, after all, be persuaded to channel millions of dollars in productive investment to their countries. And they’re there to talk to each other, in private, usually away from the glare of the TV cameras and free of the cumbersome trappings of a formal State visit.

The real action

The real action in Davos takes place away from the televised panel discussions (on subjects ranging from “building the network society” to “why are we afraid of the future?”) that are what the outside world sees of the Forum. The key meetings occur in private dinners, receptions and over drinks in hotel bars, and the vital ones are “bilateral”, one-on-ones organised precisely to take advantage of the excuse Davos gives both parties to be present at the same place at the same time. The World Economic Forum works extraordinarily well as a place to meet and be met. And for all its elitism, there’s a curious levelling involved in a place where even Prime Ministers need to introduce themselves occasionally to strangers, especially if the strangers happen to be world leaders or titans of industry who aren’t planning to visit their capitals any time soon.

But the real business of Davos is business, and ideas are the currency of exchange. So participants spend a fair amount of time networking with the movers and shakers, but also attending some of the more intriguing panel discussions. Some predictable things were said during the various discussions, but some startling insights emerged as well, and the panellists’ metaphors became increasingly inventive. India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath, deserved a prize for this one in a discussion on the prospects for an “Asian Century”: “we were passengers on the [global economic] bus, we didn’t drive it, we didn’t make the bus and we had no idea where it was going. Now we want to control the steering wheel and choose the right road.” Or on shared responsibility for climate change: “we’re not at the head table but we have the same menu.”

It’s impossible not to notice the sizeable Indian contingent, ranging from the Finance Minister to the CEOs of all the top information technology companies. Davos is where the new India announced its coming of age as a global economic presence. But what struck me this year was the extent to which India is now taken for granted at Davos, in a good way: there’s scarcely a panel without an Indian on it, and most discussions of world affairs — economic or geopolitical — witnessed several mentions of India. A stimulating and educative panel on Indian innovation was even attended (judging by the badges of the questioners) by a surprisingly large number of Davos spouses who had actually travelled or worked in India. This Forum afforded confirmation, if any were needed, that our homeland has truly arrived at Davos; it no longer needs any special effort to promote itself to this audience.

As a former U.N. hand, I was attentive to the tension between the Forum’s stated aim of improving the state of the world, and its image in the eyes of its critics as a crony gathering of globalisation’s winners, determined to protect their interests at the expense of the world’s poor and marginalised. Kofi Annan

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