Brief Overview of the World Economic Forum

(WEF)

Risti Permani (risti.permani@adelaide.edu.au)School of Economics

The University of Adelaide

*Presented at the PPIA Academic Workshop June 13, 2011

What is the World Economic Forum (WEF)?

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

History

ofounded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a German-born business professor at the University of Geneva; ooriginally named the European Management Forum;ochanged its name to the World Economic Forum in 1987

Delegates at 2009 WEF in Davos

WEF on East Asia Jakarta 12-13 June 2011

• The theme: “Responding to the New Globalism”

• Globalism has moved beyond trade• How leaders come together to address

current challenges?

Background of the East Asian regiono Developing Asian economies: GDP grow by 8.4%

(Indonesia 6.1%);o Strengths:Regional connectivityStrong domestic demandHigh levels of investment and technology adoption

Challenges

o Risks to sustained growth such as unemployment, inflationary pressures

o Over-reliance on tradeo Threats to food securityo Resource scarcityo Environmental degradationo Natural disasters impacts and risks

Four thematic areas

1) Managing Global Disruptions2) Ensuring Employment and Inclusive Growth3) Leading through Sustainability4) Exploring New Norms in Asia

1) Managing Global Disruptions

• How would an Asian approach differ from current efforts to manage looming global risks?

• How resilient is Asia to a future financial shock? • How can regional players effectively mitigate

geopolitical risks? • How can the Asian region effectively leverage risk

response mechanisms following catastrophic natural disasters?

• How can Asia manage ocean resources while minimizing disruption to regional trade routes?

• How can Asia manage currency volatility to maintain regional competitiveness in the global market?

2) Ensuring Employment and Inclusive Growth

• How can policy innovations lead to greater entrepreneurship, employment and growth?

• In what areas should Asia be leading the world with regard to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?

• How can leaders in the public and private sectors ensure that women are key drivers of economic growth in Asia?

• How can Asia’s poor escape the poverty trap and become part of the region’s economic success?

• How can bridging the technology divide equalize socio-economic differences between technology users in Asia?

3) Leading through Sustainability

• How can Asia pursue long-term food security in an environmentally and politically sustainable manner?

• From an environmental and political perspective, how can Asia ensure its long-term energy security?

• How can public and private sector leaders ensure that adaptation efforts succeed in sustainable land use?

• How can Asian policy innovations and new business models incentivize sustainable spending rather than conspicuous consumption?

• How should Asian infrastructure be built to prevent bottlenecks in development and growth agendas?

4) Exploring New Norms in Asia

• How can Asia’s trade architecture withstand global disruptions and promote development and growth?

• How have social media in Asia evolved differently from the rest of the world?

• How effective is “nation branding” at projecting and differentiating Asian norms and identity?