Post date: Jan 26, 2012 11:4:55 PM
The second day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, saw a tour of the geopolitical landscape. Political, civil society and business leaders addressed development issues including combating hunger, disease, and African economic growth, a call for a new phase of trade negotiations, the implications of the Arab Spring, and priorities for the Americas.
DAVOS-KLOSTERS, SWITZERLAND (26 JANUARY 2012) (WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM) - Food security and the fight against disease remain key topics of the Annual Meeting's agenda. The issue of feeding a growing global population is as urgent as ever. Josette Sheeran, head of the World Food Programme (WFP)pointed out that 40 percent of all food produced goes to waste. Even in a time of unprecedented plenty, one billion people around the world are still going hungry. Unilever CEO Paul Polman presented some daunting statistics to illustrate the challenges ahead.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today renewed its commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Bill Gates announced the foundation is giving $750 million through a promissory note-- an innovative new funding mechanism that will enable organisations to more quickly begin activities sponsored by the fund.The fund says over its 10-year existence, it has provided anti-retroviral treatment to 3.3 million people, detected and treated 8.2 million people with tuberculosis and given 230 million bed nets to families to prevent malaria.
Japan's former prime minister, Naoto Kan, told the news conference that his nation has contributed $1.3 billion to the fund. Kan said his country wanted to thank the African and Asian nations that had sent aid after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country last year, by committing another $340 million tranche of a promised total $800 million package.
Africa has grown faster than any other continent in the past 10 years and the International Monetary Fund predicts growth on the continent will exceed 5% for the next two years. The continent has also made advances in establishing free multi-party, accountable government systems, as well as in the areas of health, education and poverty reduction. African presidents and prime ministers in a panel were in agreement about the need for continued investments in infrastructure, intellectual manpower, and a greater degree of intra-African cooperation. President of Guinea Alpha Condé went as far as to recommend that African Leaders establish at the next meeting of the African Union ministers of energy, trade, and infrastructure to create coordinated and integrated Africa-wide policies, while President of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete suggested investment in construction of a trans-African railway as a means to spur growth. President of South Africa Jacob Zuma delineated risks that could derail African economic progress, including its dependence on only a few economic sectors, such as commodities, and the danger that recent strides for democracy on the continent could be blunted if policies are not enacted to allow ordinary citizens to feel tangible dividends of democratic changes.
British Prime Minister David Cameron called the drive to finish the Doha round of world trade talks a failure and said the European Union should instead negotiate free trade deals with the individual countries, which would generate 80 billion euro in GDP across the continent. Instead of trying to get every country to agree, Cameron said the 27-nation EU should push forward with bilateral deals. "Last year, at this very forum, world leaders called for an all-out effort to conclude the Doha round in 2011. We said it was the make-or-break year. It was. And we have to be frank about it. It didn't work."
After the speech, Cameron was joined by London mayor Boris Johnson and London Olympic Committee chair Sebastian Coe to promote the upcoming London Games. Johnson also bragged about bringing ice to the Alps -- in the form of a massive ice sculpture representing London.
The repercussions of the Arab Spring, and the elections that have resulted, were addressed by government officials from Tunisia and Morocco. Both nations recently elected Islamist governments, and were quick to assure the rest of the world of their policies of inclusion and modernity. For Tunisian Central Bank governor Mustapha Kamel Nabil, social issues should be guaranteed but the focus of the government should be economic development and growth. Moroccan Minister in charge of General Affairs and Governance Mohamed Najib Boulif said his county would abide by the principles of secularism, citing the northern European model and snubbing France's restrictions on women wearing the niqab.
Egyptian presidential candidate Amr Moussa said that if elected he would work for peace with Israel, based on the 2002 Arab Initiative. The Arab-Israeli peace process was also addressed by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
President of Mexico Felipe Calderón attributed the causes of the global economic crisis to countries' deciding to "break their own golden rule" and allow their debt to become too high a percentage of their GDPs. He emphasised the need for the global system to cooperate in taking drastic steps now to inject credibility and liquidity into the financial system. The president attributed Mexico's recover from economic turbulence in 1995 to close coordination with the international community and said he hopes that the United States would join Mexico and Brazil in committing increased funding to the IMF so that it can be a more effective stabilizing force in the world economy.
Canadian Prime Minister said the current crisis should force Western economies to address their fundamentals.
In a surprise towards the end of the day, Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the delegates via video, telling them that her country was poised for great change.