World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008
The Power of Collaborative Innovation
23-27 January, Davos, Switzerland

Wednesday 23rd   Thursday 24th   Friday 25th   Saturday 26th   Sunday 27th

Saturday 26 January

Japan launches financial mechanism to aid climate change
Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister, Japan and chair of the forthcoming G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in June 2008 told participants that the G8 summit will focus on setting fair carbon emission reduction targets for the G8 countries. The Prime Minister also presented his Cool Earth Promotion Programme which will establish a new financial mechanism to aid developing countries’ efforts to reduce emissions.
Session Summary l Webcast l Press Release | Transcript of the speech

ASEAN emerging - largest delegation to Davos ever
Over 20 top leaders from Southeast Asian countries marked the recent historic signing of the ASEAN Charter at the Annual Meeting 2008 focusing on the region's vast opportunities and potential. East Asia, consisting of ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea, now represents nearly 2 billion people, holds close to US$ 3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and generates nearly a quarter of the world's economic output.
Session Summary

Election fears for Doha in 2008
General optimism for the Doha Trade negotiations was tempered by concerns from panellists that the upcoming US elections will cause further delays to the six-year negotiations, possibly resulting in ultimate failure. “We drastically understate the positive effects of trade liberalisation,” said Susan Schwab, Office of the US Trade Representative, who underlined American commitment to the Trade Round.
Session Summary l Press Release

 Questions for Iran, concerns for the region
Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Iran informed participants about Iran’s current negotiating position with the International Atomic Agency. His statement against the threat of international sanctions and inspections led to a debate as to how best the international community should engage Iran in the context of energy security, nuclear non-proliferation and regional stability.
Webcast l Session Summary
 

Co-Chairs

Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007); Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum
James Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co., USA
K.V. Kamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank, India
Henry Kissinger, Chairman, Kissinger Associates, USA
Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo, USA
David J. O'Reilly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chevron Corporation, USA
Wang Jianzhou, Chief Executive, China Mobile Communications Corporation, People's Republic of China



Quotes

France is basing its labour market reforms on the flexibility seen in two countries, the UK and Denmark..   Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment of France Session Summary l Webcast

Mayors are able to drive change where governments are not able to.   Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London Press Release l Session Summary

The WTO has to compromise between efficiency and legitimacy. We are not extremely efficient but we are member driven and that ensures legitimacy.   Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization Session Summary