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Snow, prosperity, and political correctness

Vidya Subrahmaniam

As the world's A-list of business captains brainstorm on issues dear to them, they seem increasingly aware of criticism that the World Economic Forum at Davos is a richie rich club indifferent to the problems of the vast majority.

PHOTO: AP

FORTIFIED: Barbed wire surrounds the site of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday.

COVERED IN a thick blanket of snow, Davos is picture postcard pretty at this time of the year. No wonder January-end is when the world's rich and powerful head for the Alpine ski resort for their annual talkfest — better known as the World Economic Forum. As always, there is much murmuring around the weather. It is cold but not cold enough, and the snow cover is thinner than usual, fret the regulars. For the Indian media team, swaddled in mufflers, overcoats and gloves, and trudging up the snow covered paths in ill-fitting boots, this is hardly comforting. The club members, of course, arrive in style at the Congress Centre, the venue of the various plenary sessions — quickly out of their chauffer-driven limos and into the warm comfort of the heated halls.

This year, the VIP quotient of the meet is high, judging by the fact-sheet put out by the forum. Of the 2,400 participants from 90 countries, 800 are chief executives or chairpersons — the highest since the WEF was launched in 1971. And 73 of the participating companies fall in one or another list of the top 100 companies chosen by the Financial Times, Fortune or Forbes. The political content is provided by 24 heads of state or government, 85 Cabinet Ministers, 24 Ambassadors, and 58 heads or senior officials of international organisations.

Yet even as the world's A-list of business captains brainstorm on issues dear to them, and gently lobby the political leadership from around the globe, they seem increasingly aware of criticism that the WEF is a richie rich club whose members network in plush surroundings, indifferent to the problems of the vast majority. Detractors have gone so far as to call the Davos annual a secret cabal; although the meet is covered by the press, not all of its sessions are open, and indeed much of the actual work is done at interactive sessions over fine wine and great food — away from the glare of the flashbulbs.

The WEF is obviously out of bounds for protesters with the town heavily barricaded with hi-tech hardware. A WEF spokesperson disputes this. The tight security is for visiting dignitaries, he says, adding Switzerland is too civilised to ban protests: "They can apply for permission to protest, and protest from a distance." Little wonder, the wisdom in Davos is that you must wear your permit badge at all times or find yourself quickly reduced to persona non grata.

Parallel forum

The WEF embarked on a course correction some years ago by deciding to invite select members from civil society to rub shoulders with the industry's big and the best. Among the honoured invitees this year are 31 heads of NGOs, 13 union leaders, and 161 leaders from academic institutions and think tanks. In 2003, the WEF introduced the idea of an "open forum." This is a parallel forum, open to the public, open to more trenchant criticism and held at a venue different from the annual meeting. Obviously, the parallel forum allows some amount of globalisation-bashing. In the past years, the forum discussed topics such as "Globalisation or deglobalisation for the benefit of the poorest" and "When is the economy ethical?" This year, the topics include, "CEO salaries: How high will they go?"; "Billions of development aid: What are the results?"; "The multicultural society: an illusion?"; and "Brands: Today's Gods?"

This year the WEF has taken the process of demystification further and opened its virtual space to the outside world. The virtual space does away with the inconvenience of dealing with protesting hordes, yet acts as a place where people can let off steam — if they want to. Launched on the eve of the meet, the WEF's `bloggeregator,' also known as `The Davos Conversation Page,' is meant to facilitate wider conversations about issues, regions, and persons. At the inaugural, Klaus Schwab, the WEF's founder and executive chairman, described `The Conversation Page' as the WEF's "continued commitment to opening the Annual Meeting to a global dialogue of the issues that face us all. Thanks to the tools and technology of the Internet, we can reach an even bigger audience, share the outcomes of the Annual Meeting and create a global conversation on how to improve the state of the world."

Field leveller

The conversation project has four media partners, the BBC, the Guardian's Comment is free, Huffington Post, and Buzzmachine, all of whom have invited their readers to record and submit video questions and comments to forum participants. The project is getting high billing and the evidence is in the gushing reaction of Arianna Huffington, Editor of Huffington Post.com: "One of the great things about the blogosphere is that it gives anyone with a modem and a keyboard a seat at the tables of power. It is an unparalleled field leveller. I applaud the Forum for opening the doors of one of the world's most exclusive gatherings to bloggers and their readers."

So what are some of the comments that the bloggeregator has attracted? On day one, some critical and some supportive. The first question put to Jonathan Schmidt, director, global agenda, at WEF by a blogger was: "Why don't you establish a set of ethical ground rules for corporates to play by in any country they operate in and propose measures and sanctions for those multinationals that do not play by these rules?" Another interesting posting from a Davos insider had this to say: "Globalisation is good for you, that's the unspoken assumption of most of the business leaders here regardless of whether they hail from the west or developing countries. But many discussions here now revolve around what's happening to the losers of globalisation ... Economic power is shifting, new giants are emerging. The bottom line says that this is a good thing... But a good bottom line hides a lot of personal pain of those who lose out. The solution? Beats me. But here in Davos, hundreds of very clever — and very rich — people are discussing the impact of these inequities, and what to do about them."

Indeed, as the blogger says, this year Davos is discussing the impact of globalisation more seriously. The much-toasted `spirit of Davos' notwithstanding, there is also growing acknowledgment that the world outside is grossly unequal.

Introducing the theme of the 37th annual, "The Shifting Power Equation," Mr. Schwab urged participants to help shape a global agenda that addresses a world that is rapidly changing: "We are living in an increasingly schizophrenic world, where economies are booming and global signs are promising, but underneath are economic, political and social risks, as well as imbalances and inconsistencies."

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