 The World Economic Forum is committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders from the public and private sectors and from wider civil society in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We continute to make significant strides in these three key areas through the application of existing models to new projects, the expansion of current initiatives, and the launch of new initiatives and programmes. The past year’s highlights include:
 2007: German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, set out Germany's G8 presidency objectives of "growth and responsibility" at the Annual Meeting 2007. More I Germany's G8 presidency objectives
2007: On the penultimate day of the Annual Meeting 2007, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy told participants that the discussions among the 30 trade ministers in Davos had given new impetus to the stalled Doha Round. Days later, negotiators at the WTO in Geneva agreed that full talks to set a framework for concluding the Round would resume.
2007: 2,940 minutes, representing 49 hours and 24 sessions at the Annual Meeting 2007, were spent addressing environmental issues.
  In a year of earthquakes that once again devastated parts of South and Southeast Asia, the World Economic Forum’s
Disaster Resource Network
and its corporate partners put their resources to work on a number of fronts.
In total, some 2,000 families in India and Pakistan were able to move from makeshift tents and crowded camps to specially designed transitional shelters; 3,000 students who attended 15 heavily damaged schools in Yogyakarta will have newly restored water and sanitation facilities when they return to school in the second half of 2006; 15,000 injured quake survivors in Pakistan received emergency medical care and thousands of others continue to benefit from the airlift of US$ 3 million of high priority relief supplies (medicine, hospital equipment, blankets, 6-person thermal tents, generators, water sanitation equipment).
After Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, DRN collaborated with new partners to bring emergency wireless technology to Gulf Coast evacuees, establishing the networks needed to connect 11 towns and 10 relief organizations.
In the months ahead, DRN will be working closely with the engineering and construction sector to expand its role in disaster response and mitigation particularly focusing on water-sanitation; power-energy; emergency telecommunications; and infrastructure i.e. roads, bridges, tunnels, hospitals, schools. Within each, DRN will develop targeted public-private partnerships designed to build the disaster response capacity of vulnerable countries.
 The World Economic Forum’s
Global Education Initiative
has expanded and now works in
Jordan,
Egypt
and the Indian state of
Rajasthan.
In Jordan, more than 50,000 pupils in 100 schools are benefiting from the partnership between the Forum’s Information Technology and Telecom (ITTC) member companies and the government – with more than US$ 25 million in direct contributions.
This year, a new education programme was launched in Egypt to provide information communication technology to all Egyptian students at an affordable cost. The initiative should reach more than 2.5 million students and 250,000 teachers.
The Forum's Global Health Initiative is the largest public-private sector network in health. Our mission is to engage businesses in public-private partnerships to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. GHI catalysed partnerships use the resources and know-how of all parties involved to run projects that yield real results on the ground. Results from 2006/2007 include:
Beyond Big Business Partnership - with Eskom, Heineken, Standard Chartered Bank, Unilever and Volkswagen. Each company worked with a selection of their suppliers and the GHI's support to reach approximately 50,000 people with lifesaving HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and treatment-intervention programmes. "Beyond Big Business – Are your Suppliers and Distributors Ready for HIV/AIDS?" (1MB)
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Session summary
India Business Alliance to Stop TB (IBA) - with Reliance, Aditya Birla, Jubilant Organosys, Eli Lilly, the World Health Organization, the Global Partnership to Stop TB and the Ministry of Health of India. IBA reached a total 4 million people with a combination of workplace and community programmes in 2006.
China Health Alliance (CHA) - with adidas, Standard Chartered Bank, Swire Beverages, Pfizer, the UN and the Chinese Government. Launched in September 2006 the CHA focuses on providing education, testing and treatment to the employees of partner companies, with a special emphasis on reaching migrant workers. The initial phase is expected to reach 5 million people.
In June 2006 GHI also launched the white paper "From Funding to Action: Strengthening Healthcare Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa", the first of its kind in highlighting the potential role of business in this arena. As a next step the GHI is currently working in partnership with Merck & Co., Becton Dickinson, Sudler & Hennessy, Accenture, AMREF and UNAIDS to develop a demonstration project that will put the report recommendations into practice. More
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Healthcare Systems White Paper
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Press release
Since it's creation in 2004, the Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders: West Islamic World Dialogue (C-100) has:
- Built a solid community of 80 leaders from diverse backgrounds who are committed to its mission
- Launched the C-100 award for individuals with a notable contribution to dialogue and understanding
- Connected significant projects with donors to mobilize funding.
- Recent projects include:
– Internet-based university links - Soliya
– Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow - ASMA Society
– Religious Leaders Study Exchange - World Faith Development Dialogue
– Media outreach training, Common Ground News Service and reality television - Search for Common Ground
Two groundbreaking projects are currently underway:
- Providing an annual global assessment of the state of West–Islamic dialogue
- Supporting educational work that advances good citizenship and intercultural and interfaith awareness with particular impact on West–Islam relations.
 The Business Alliance Against Chronic Hunger (BAACH) was formed in 2006 by a group of CEOs and public leaders who outlined an action plan for business to help reduce hunger. The Alliance’s founders recommended initiating action in one specific location to develop a model for business partnership to reduce hunger which can be scaled up and adapted to other regions. BAACH is focusing initial efforts in Siaya, the poorest district in Kenya, where 38% of children are stunted by malnutrition. Over 30 companies plus key partners - including NGOs, international agencies and the Government of Kenya - are taking action in four priority areas:
1. Staple crop production and market linkages
2. Integrated processing and packaging
3. Retail and consumer market development
4. Entrepreneurship capacity-building
The Forum announced the formation of a new international partnership of seven organizations to establish a generally accepted framework for climate risk-related reporting by corporations. Press release
The
Global Risk Report 2007
(1.8MB), released by the Forum's
Global Risk Network, provides a concise overview of the global risks facing the world in 2007 and beyond. Press release
The Forum released a
Report
(2MB) outlining high-leverage ways in which companies can apply their skills to the problems of hunger, malaria and basic education. The Forum’s Members
also devised specific recommendations on how financial institutions can stimulate investment in the developing world and on how the Forum can cooperate with the UN Development Programme and various governments to expand the development of public-private partnerships.
Press release
The World Economic Forum and the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee (RBWC) issued the final report of a two-year, public-private review of the international monetary system in cooperation with Group of 20 governments. Entitled "The International Monetary System, the IMF and the G20: A Great Transformation in the Making?", the report concludes that a critical mass of governments appears ready to try to adapt international financial institutions. Press release
Shaping regional agendas
At the Annual Meeting 2007, the World Economic Forum launched its 4th regional scenario report The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the World: Scenarios to 2025. The scenarios were developed throughout a series of workshops and closely involved senior executives from our Industry and Strategic Partners, as well as thought leaders, industry experts and public leaders. Previous regional scenarios include China and the World: Scenarios to 2025, Russia and the World: Scenarios to 2025, and India and the World: Scenarios to 2025.
The Forum launched the Israeli-Palestinian Business Council, a key group of Palestinian and Israeli CEOs. The council, consisting of some of the foremost business leaders in Israel and Palestine, will advance the relationship between the two business communities and, ultimately, assist the region to move towards durable peace and coexistence. Press release
The Forum's Energy Poverty Alliance is a private sector initiative of Forum member companies that delivers business expertise and best practices to reduce energy poverty. The three initiating partners, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (Canada), Eskom (South Africa) and Vattenfall (Sweden), have already committed to developing pilot projects in Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo, initially providing electricity to more than 70,000 people.
The
Investment Climate Facility for Africa
– endorsed by our Africa Economic Summit 2005, and an outcome of the G-8/ UK Commission for Africa’s ‘Year of Africa’ deliberations – was launched at the World Economic Forum on Africa with secured seed funding of US$ 100 million and a strong, business-led mandate to improve Africa’s investment climate.
Webcast: RealPlayer
(20k) and Windows Media Player
(34k)
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Press release
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ICF website
The World Economic Forum’s
Water Initiative
advanced collaboration between the public and the private sectors this year. One key development was the establishment of an Indian Business Alliance on Water with the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations Development Programme and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
This alliance aims to improve the availability and quality of water in India. It will act as a platform to launch a series of water projects in India. The first project, conceived at the Annual Meeting 2006, is a state-wide public-private-community partnership on water in Rajasthan. Work is also in progress related to waste water re-use, infrastructure development, and policy dialogue in both India and Southern Africa.
Building on the successful
2005
G8 Climate Change Roundtable process,
in 2006
the World Economic Forum was invited by the UK Government
to engage business more deeply in the Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development - a G8/G20 governmental process involving the world’s largest energy producer and consumer nations, that intends to deliver recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in time for the
G8 Summit under Japan’s Presidency in 2008. This public-private dialogue process involves a series of meetings to shape policy recommendations on climate change
beyond 2012 and two other workstreams - smarter investment in clean energy for developing countries and changing behaviour. The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Public-Private Partnership and Centre for Global Industry have developed a work programme for Industry Partners to engage in the Gleneagles Dialogue process during 2007-2008. To mobilize a global business voice for the project, the Forum also invited the World Business Council on Sustainable Development to collaborate in the process.
2007: US$ 5 trillion is the amount of annual revenue made by companies present at the Gleneagles Dialogue private session on climate change future policy frameworksat the Industry Partnership Strategy Meeting in London.
2007: 90 business leaders took part in a single private discussion on climate change future policy frameworks
at the Industry Partnership Strategy Meeting in London.
Engagement in the Gleneagles Dialogue complements our other areas of climate change work, such as our involvement in the
Carbon Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), a consortium advocating generally accepted frameworks for reporting of climate risks and opportunities, catalyzed at the Annual Meeting 2007 and
the Global Greenhouse Gas Register.
Two new National Competitiveness Councils for Bahrain and Kuwait were established following
The Arab Competitiveness Report 2005
which was launched at the
Arab Competitiveness Roundtable in Qatar, and following the competitiveness workshop in Bahrain. Members of the World Economic Forum’s
Arab Business Council
led the private-sector initiative which aims to inspire the creation of other such councils in the region, and potentially worldwide.
The Forum of Young Global Leaders have been active in projects around the world:
- The YGL’s celebrated Dignity Day in Jordan with H.M. Queen Rania, YGLs, and 100 Jordanian students. They engaged in a conversation about what it means to live a dignified life and how to treat each other in accordance with the principles of dignity. The event brought together the three co-founders of the Dignity Day initiative, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway, Professor Pekka Himanen of the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, and Operation HOPE Founder and CEO John Hope Bryant, as they reunited with several other Jordanian and international YGLs.
- A group of 14 Young Global Leaders built two emergency houses in the poor Nueva AndrÈs Bello settlement in Chile’s capital, Santiago. With the help of NGO "Un Techo Para Mi PaÌs" (A Roof For My Country), two families were able to leave their cardboard box homes.
- A group of Young Global Leaders in Japan has developed a programme called "Table for Two". The project seeks to address the imbalances of obesity and lifestyle-related diseases in developed countries, as well as hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. Every time someone eats a healthy meal at cooperating company cafeterias in developed countries, 20 cents is donated to fund a healthy school meal in a developing country through the World Food Programme.
- A group of Young Global Leaders launched the "Love: Brands Helping Customers Reduce CO2 Emissions" initiative at the Annual Meeting 2007. During the inaugural Climate Change Nightcap, they launched the initiative which aims to encourage the world’s most influential businesses to reduce their own emissions and leverage their brands to encourage behavioural change on the part of their customers.
- A group of YGLs forged a partnership with Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf and tourism companies to boost tourism to the greater Kaghan Valley region. The
initiative
seeks to rebuild the tourism infrastructure, devastated by the 2005 earthquake, through the disbursement of concessional and low-interest loans.
Shaping industry agendas
At the Annual Meeting of 2007, the World Economic Forum has launched – for the first time since its inception – industry scenarios.
The Digital Ecosystem – Convergence between IT, Telecoms, Media and Entertainment: Scenarios to 2015 was developed with the Forum’s Information Technology, Telecommunications, and Media and Entertainment Industry Partners during 2006. User empowerment, market structure, market regulation, intellectual property rights, security and privacy were identified as issues that would challenge the sector.
Developed in cooperation with the Financial Services and the Information Technology Industry Partners, Technology
and Innovation in Financial Services: Scenarios to 2020 describes how technology and innovation will transform access to and delivery of financial services up to the 2020. In particular, the effects of globalization, support from government regulators, diversifying drivers of innovation and the emergence of new actors, are addressed.
The World Economic Forum expanded into North America with the opening of
World Economic Forum USA
in New York. The offices act as the global headquarters for the Centre for Global Industries, the group responsible for leading the Forum's industry activities including the Industry Partners Programme.
The Forum launched the
Industry Partners Programme
which comprises of select member companies who strongly support the Forum's commitment to improve the state of the world.
In the IT/Telecoms Industry Partners programme, a "China and the World 2025" scenarios project was completed with deep analysis on how issues related to intellectual property and senior management talent would develop in the coming decade. Industry Partners met exclusively with Professor Cheng Siwei, Vice Chairman, Standing Committee, China, to discuss the results of the project and gain first-hand insights on the views of China's government.
The World Economic Forum established the
Community of Global Growth Companies
in China with the mission to enable emerging multi-nationals to develop into the next generation of global champions and become a major force driving economic development.
47 visionary companies were selected as
Technology Pioneers 2007. The companies, whose products range from real 3D screens to fuel cell motorbikes and intelligent prosthetics, were nominated by the world’s leading venture capital and technology companies.
Over 123 companies representing more than US$ 500 billion in annual turnover have signed up to the
Partnering Against Corruption - Principles for Countering Bribery
(PACI Principles).
Signatories
Over the past year, PACI significantly deepened its credibility: The heads of the multilateral development banks, the IFC and the IIC agreed to work with PACI on individual pilot programmes to advance anti-corruption efforts. The heads of the Big Four Accounting firms (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers) agreed to work with the PACI and together will explore the development of a framework for companies to benefit from independent reviews of their anti-bribery programmes.
Together with its signatories, PACI has made substantial progress on its three-stage process, outlining what follows corporate commitment to the PACI Principles. PACI developed a set of tools to support companies’ implementation and evaluation of their anti-corruption programmes and strengthened its members platform for sharing experience on implementing programmes. The PACI will further launch a mechanism that highlights PACI signatories that have advanced their programmes and monitoring mechanisms since they signed on to PACI.
Overall, the increased private sector dynamics and PACI’s deepened credibility have offered the initiative broad recognition. Throughout the past year PACI presented its work in high-level sessions at the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, at the OECD Working Group on Bribery, the International Chamber of Commerce Commission on Anti-Corruption, and the State Parties Meeting of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
A
Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative
report found that 9 out of 10 CEOs surveyed feel that partnerships between business, government and civil society must play either a major role or some role in addressing key development challenges facing the world today.
Report
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Press release
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