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The world at Davos

IKRAM SEHGAL writes from Karachi
SYMBOLICALLY, but in a representative way that has no equal, the world assembles at Davos, Switzerland during the last week of January every year. If you are not rubbing shoulders with the likes of former US President Bill Clinton and the British PM Tony Blair, then you are doing so with mediamen such as BBC's Nik Gowing and Stephen Cole, or Richard Quest of CNN. People like Microsoft's Bill Gates and Unysys's Narayan Murthy are regular attendees, so is Amre Moussa, former Foreign Minister of Egypt and Secretary General of the Arab League. Among the religious leaders you will find Mostafa Ceric of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lord Carey of Clifton, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Many Universities are well represented here, such as Harvard University's Joseph S. Nye Jr, Dean of the Kennedy School of Government, etc. Brainchild of Dr Klaus Schwab, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) has its Annual Meeting at Davos, a unique gathering of leaders in almost every discipline -- heads of state and government, mutli-national industrialists and businessmen, heads of world institutions and prominent NGOs, media persona, academics, and eminent personalities from many diverse fields, etc.
The theme for WEF Annual Meeting 2005 was "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices" among the Co-Chairpersons were, viz (1) Bill Gates of Microsoft, USA, (2) Narayan Murthy of Unysys, India and (3) Lubna Olayan of Olayan Inc, UAE. Meant for networking and presentation of ideas, this year the Annual Meeting was devoted to better harnessing the collective intellect and decision-power of decision makers. A specially designed "Davos Workspace" allowed large groups of participants to work inter-actively, collaboratively and with creativity. Besides addressing the core of the global policy agenda, topics were meant to directly shape the corporate agenda. The Annual Meeting is famous for its innovative ideas, this year it was the "Town Hall Meeting", held to evaluate, by the help of instant electronic voting, the priorities on the tough choices. About 900 people participated in the step-by-step discussions at 10-person roundtables followed by voting, a representative cross-section of the world's elite set the order of priorities. Update Session had included such diverse issues as (1) China, (2) climate change, (3) global economy, (4) Islam (5) poverty, (6) proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), (7) Middle East, (8) global trade, (9) US leadership, (10) Europe, (11) Global governance and (12) equitable globalisation. To those were added "Education" and "Health" because of the overwhelming preference of those taking part in the "Town Hall Meeting".
Among the global leaders who
addressed Plenary Sessions in the Congress Centre were, viz (1) British PM Tony Blair, (2) Former US President Bill Clinton, (3) President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, (4) President Olesegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, (5) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan, (6) Prime Minister Ahmed Mahmood Nazif of Egypt, (7) President Benjamin William Mpaka of Tanzania, (8) President Yuschenko of Ukraine, (9) Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey, etc. As at the last minute he could not make it to Davos, President Jacques Chirac of France addressed the assembled dignitaries electronically from the Elysee Palace in Paris. Taking part in various sessions were, viz (1) Wu Jiamin from China, (2) Gen Wesley Clark of USA, (3) Minister Ali
Babacan from Turkey, (4) Rahul Bajaj of India (5) Minister Rashid M Rashid of Egypt, (6) Vice-PM of Israel Shimon Peres, (7) Thomas Friedman of USA, (8) Carly Fiorina of USA, (9) Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah of Afghanistan, (10) Senator Bill Frist of USA, (11) Paul Coelho of Brazil and, (12) George Soros of USA, etc.
Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf was outstanding in presenting Pakistan's viewpoint in 2004, he talked not in one forum but several in the course of three short days at Davos. A comparable Presidential (or PM's) foreign foray would have taken 60-75 days of his time, cost about 10-15 times more. The President not only had a chance to present the Pakistani foreign policy and economic agenda to a diverse audience, but it also gave him an
invaluable insight into how such people shape world policies. As for Gen Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's Breakfast meeting at 7:30 am in the Belvedere Salon of the Hotel Steigenberger attracted over 200 guests despite the morning freeze.
Among the dignitaries present were Secretary General Amre Moussa of the Arab League, Gareth Evans of ICC, Peter Eigen of Transparency International, National Security Advisor of Iraq Dr Mowaffak Al Rubaie, a whole clutch of Indian tycoons including Dhruv Sawhney, the Bajajs, the Godrejs, Ajit Gulabchand, etc BBC's Nik Gowing and Stephen Cole, Trudy Rubin of Philadelphia Enquire, Lally Ann Weymouth of Time Magazine, former US Ambassador to Pakistan, Wendy Chamberlan, now Deputy Chief UNHCR, etc. Shaukat Aziz gave an eloquent presentation about Pakistan economically and politically, followed by an extensive Q&A Session.
Pakistan had a very strong official delegation including the Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, Minister for Privatisation and Investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. Minister for Commerce Humayun Akhtar, Minister for Industries Jahangir Tareen and Minister for IT. Among the senior Pakistani media present were Mahmood Shaam of Jang, Zia Shahid of Khabrain, etc. A veteran of the WEF Annual Meetings at Davos, the PM ensured that his Ministers utilised the occasion for useful networking with their counterparts as well as potential investors in Pakistan.
Compared to other countries the Pakistani private businessmen contingent was small, Mian Mansha of Mansha Group (and MCB) and Hussain Dawood of Dawood Group being the only private participants (constituting owners) other than myself. Other than the official delegation, only those paying their way through their own pockets, rather than those enjoying themselves on a holiday jaunt on corporate funds, can benefit from Davos. More Pakistani entrepreneurs should become members of WEF to
increase Pakistan's visibility. The presence of Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Capital, UAE, was a wonderful and exciting exception to the norm. Doing business par excellence abroad, his presence was not only a matter of pride for Pakistanis but a refreshing presence for young Pakistani entrepreneurs, a model for successful corporate excellence that needs not only to be emulated but eulogised.
No matter how many times one goes to Davos, and I have been there more than a dozen times in my private capacity, one is always surprised by something new and exciting, and in all fields, academics, commerce, science, literature, politics, finance, media etc. One cannot over-emphasise the importance of both official and unofficial delegations, not only at Davos but at Regional Summits, like the one planned in Jordan this May. One can also hope that more and more Pakistani entrepreneurs will join the WEF to ensure Pakistan has a much more effective presence. Ikram Sehgal, a former Major of Pakistan Army, is a political analyst and columnist.