2019 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Opened

On local time January 22, 2019 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting opened in Davos, Switzerland, themed Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. More than 3000 representatives and experts from governments, international organizations, business circles, academic circles, culture and media fields will carry out about 400 discussions around the theme, exchange ideas on how to build a sustainable and inclusive social model in the multi-lateral world.

The day before the opening of 2019 World Economic Forum annual meeting, the International Monetary Fund released the World Economic Outlook Report update in Davos, again reducing the global economic growth expectations for 2019 and 2020 to 3.5% and 3.6% respectively. In this regard, Dr. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, said that globalization is a fact that multilateralism has helped hundreds of millions of people to get rid of poverty, but globalization has also made some people become losers and the poor. In the face of global challenges, all parties need to re-integrate globalization. Globalization 4.0 should be more people-oriented, more inclusive and sustainable, which is essential for the common prosperity and sustainable future of the world.

At the opening ceremony, Swiss Federal President Ueli Maurer said that under the impetus of the scientific and technological revolution, globalization has brought dreams to people, but also made some people feel uneasy, even fear the great changes brought about by the rapid development of science and technology. This annual meeting provides a platform for solutions to these issues.

The 2019 annual meeting is called the "Off Year" of the Davos Forum. The top leaders of the major developed economies such as the United States, the Great Britain and France will be absent from domestic affairs.

The World Economic Forum is an unofficial international institution that aims to study and explore problems in the world economy and promote international economic cooperation and exchanges. Its predecessor was the "European Management Forum" created by Schwab in 1971. In 1987, the “European Management Forum” was renamed the “World Economic Forum”.