Business leaders identify poverty as top issue

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Davos

One might expect pomp and snobbery in this capitalistic showpiece where a participant pays US$12,000 apart from an annual membership fee of $25,600 but they were the least visible. If anything, it was star-stricken panic that was visible among the organizers when celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Sharon Stone, Richard Gere and Lionel Richie made their way around the conference venue.

A total of 5,500 Swiss soldiers were on guard in the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort, in addition to 30 combat aircraft and 50 helicopters. The choppers were also available for rent.

Here, moderation is key. The opening reception on Jan. 25 was held in a tiny hall. It was a far cry from the luxurious and spacious wedding receptions in Jakarta's five-star hotels. So small was the reception hall you barely felt the freezing cold outside as you brushed against other participants.

The registration hall was no less modest. The hall was, so small and unpretentious it looked like a makeshift building, with an equally tiny coffee corner at the edge of the hall. The corner had only three very small round tables, you felt you had better leave before you crowded the place. After all, registration only took a few minutes to complete.

Frugality was an unexpected feature in this gathering of world business leaders, but it did not seem to be the case. More astonishing was the participants' choice of the most urgent world issues to be tackled -- poverty, followed by equitable globalization. Does it stem from a feeling of guilt? If so, does guilt go hand in hand with prosperity?

Starting with a discussion on management theories, the forum, which was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, has convened regularly on more than 30 occasions. Since then it has developed in accordance with the challenges of time.

In the late 1970s it incorporated discussions on social and political issues. In 1977 the forum members included 1,000 of the largest multinational companies with a minimum turnover of US$1 billion. Membership fees started at $15,000 a year.

When anti-globalization sentiments surfaced in the late 1990s, the forum opened discussions on the topic. In 2003, it introduced an open forum for moderate activists held in tandem with the forum in Davos.

Schwab, a former university professor, and his team have gone a long way, but there is still a lot to do. Gender wise, the representation of women in the forum is still below 10 percent, so is the percentage of activists and political leaders. Business leaders have always been the overwhelming majority.

To date, the forum is the biggest private gathering in terms of size and leading participants. Apart from the January meeting, the forum also holds other regional meetings in different parts of the world, including the United States, Europe and India.

Perhaps, the high precision industry of the Swiss watch has something to do with its efficiency. It was the protection of celebrities that seemed to take Schwab by surprise, hence the panic-stricken staff.