World Economic Forum meets in Istanbul
Posted by meb at October 30th, 2008
The World Economic Forum, or WEF, is to hold a special “Europe and Central Asia” meeting at a crucial location in what are crucial economic times.
The meeting, a first of its kind, starts today in Istanbul and continues through Saturday.
In choosing Istanbul to hold the meetings, the WEF referred to the city as “a place that symbolizes the merging of continents and civilizations and is the epitome of economic buoyancy.” The meeting brings together international and regional business leaders, government representatives and media personnel, along with cultural and religious leaders from across Europe, Turkey, Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East to “explore the common challenges faced by the regions and to map the path toward a common collaborative future.”
The event-packed meeting, which convenes under the theme “Confronting Challenges in Defining a Collaborative Future,” has three goals:
1. Examine business opportunities in the regions and define strategies to compete with the influence of Asian economies in the wake of global economic slowdown.
2. Address cross-regional challenges, uncertainties and conflicting interests and set the regional geopolitical and security agenda.
3. Advance intercultural and inter-religious dialogue as a precondition for prosperity, stability and security across the regions.
Turkey as potential leader:
The “four synergic pillars” that the whole program will revolve around includes Turkey, with itself cited as a potential leader.
These pillars are business opportunities, energy security, Central Asia and Turkey’s leadership role in the region.
Founded 37 years ago, the WEF calls itself “an independent, international organization incorporated as a Swiss not-for-profit foundation.” On its Web site, the organization says its aim is to create “a world-class corporate governance system where values are as important a basis as rules” and also puts emphasis on social development as well as economic progress.
The forum is sometimes called the “Davos Club,” in reference to its first meeting in 1971 in Davos, Switzerland, under the leadership of German-born Klaus Schwab.
The most striking – and controversial – argument made by the WEF is that it claims the key challenges of our times “cannot be met by governments, business or civil society alone,” and builds itself as a platform for “continuous interaction with peers and with the most knowledgeable people in the field.” It has been referred to as “the club of the wealthy” and subject to conspiracy theories that involve heads of states or governments “visiting Davos” to receive new orders from what theorists suggest is the global government.
Anti-WEF protests:
During the 1990s, as globalization spread throughout the world with the internationalization of capital, the WEF was targeted by various anti-globalization movements, which have sometimes managed to gather tens of thousands of people in WEF meeting places. In the face of mounting protests, the Swiss media have also criticized mounting security costs, which are covered by the forum and Swiss authorities.
For many critics, globalization is largely responsible for the global financial turmoil that the world is currently suffering. But ironically, the march of anti-globalization protestors seems to be waning as the current crisis engulfs the globe. Demonstrations against WEF meetings – or other similar summits – do not attract as much interest as they did during the late 90s and early 2000s.
WEF HIGHLIGHTS
2006: The Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis (2006-2015) is launched by the Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Bill Gates.
2005: An advisory board created and led by the WEF helps Tony Blair shape the G-8 agenda on climate change.
2003: At the Extraordinary Annual Meeting in Jordan, the Arab Business Council is established.
2002: The meeting serves as a platform for Canada’s Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to announce the creation of a fund for Africa to support the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development through the implementation of the G-8 Africa Action Plan.
1999: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announces the “Global Compact,” to give “a human face to the global market.”
1994: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, reach a draft agreement on Gaza and Jericho in Davos.
1989: North and South Korea hold their first ministerial-level meetings at Davos.
1988: Greece and Turkey sign the Davos Declaration, putting an end to the dangerous escalation over an islet in the Aegean.
source: Turkish Daily News
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