GLOBAL LEADERS PITCH FOR BUILDING TRUST

India's positioning for global investors has been taken to a new level at Davos. At the national level and regional state level, India's capabilities in a range of sectors were displayed in an experiential format. Invest India set up an experience centre where visitors could view demos by domain experts and entrepreneurs

- Pranjal Sharma

THE SNOWY SLOPES of alpine Davos have been the backdrop of several high- profile debates, discussions and decisions over the last half a century. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos occurred amidst ongoing wars in West Asia and Eastern Europe. The Ukraine war has been going on for two years and began even before the world could recover from Covid- 19.

As the world came together to heal fractures, Davos 2024 turned into an urgent gathering of business, political and social leaders who sought normalisation. The theme of ‘Building Trust’ resonated with leaders across the world. “We must rebuild trust – trust in our future, trust in our capacity to overcome challenges, and most importantly, trust in each other,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. “Trust is not just a feeling; trust is a commitment to action, to belief, to hope.”

“Geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together around global solutions for global challenges,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “It is essential that we discard prejudice, bridge differences and work as one to tackle the trust deficit,” said Li Qiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China.

“The world is not at a single inflection point; it is at multiinflection points,” warned Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. She urged countries to “deepen global collaboration more than ever before.”