DAVOS, Switzerland — The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting’s theme this yr was “rebuilding belief,” but it surely might have been about how the Middle East issues greater than ever.
The area was on full show alongside the promenade, with the Saudi Pavilion one of many only a few claiming house contained in the safe zone, proper outdoors the Congress Center, the place all of the plenary speeches happen. The “activations” alongside the promenade included shows from DP World, Al Ula, Neom, and lots of extra corporations and international locations both from the area or closely invested in it.
The area’s fame as a worldwide hub and incubator for innovation and expertise was on full show, because the area’s authorities and enterprise leaders had been featured within the WEF’s discussions of innovation, AI and the worldwide economic system. But there was nonetheless no escaping the area’s conflicts. The Israel-Hamas struggle in Gaza contains fronts in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and the Red Sea. There was discuss of a doable deal, an endgame for the struggle, together with a path to Palestinian statehood, but in addition a sort of dread that the yr forward, which incorporates a lot promise, will even be clouded by continued violence and despair.
Al-Monitor had all of it lined in its first yr as a WEF media accomplice, together with unique sit-downs with among the area’s high resolution makers. Excerpts under, with hyperlinks to full interviews: