Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) held in the town of Davos, Switzerland is as it says it is: a forum.

Political and corporate leaders, the occasional intellectuals and a whole lot of media people gather in this ski resort in January to share ideas, rub elbows and learn from each other. A number of panels are organized to provide this gathering some structure. Most of the most fruitful encounters, however, happen along the corridors where attendees randomly interact.

The Davos forum attracts some of the most influential thinkers, key decision-makers and rising political stars. Free interaction is encouraged. Protocol is at a minimum.

There is no joint communique issued after the WEF meeting. This is not an event that is expected to produce a consensus on anything.

But the forum, nevertheless, serves to call global attention to the issues of the day and the possible policy actions to address them. This year, the war in Ukraine will no doubt be at the top of mind of those gathered at Davos. The invasion has altered the pattern of globalization, added to the supply chain stresses already tested by the pandemic and very likely forced a reconfiguration of security paradigms everywhere.

This high-profile gathering, no doubt, serves as a springboard for rising personalities in the global stage. Their ideas will be listened to by those who make the decisions that matter. Their voices will be amplified by the forum. Their proposals might be validated by those who lead nations and corporations – the entities shaping the world’s economy.

There are some things the Davos meeting is not.

The meeting is not a place to buttonhole corporate leaders for investments, although they might want to know the policy trajectory of emerging nations. It is not a place for forging alliances. The weight of Switzerland’s history of strict neutrality hangs over the meetings and the chance encounters along the corridors.

In a word, the gathering at Davos is intended to be a festival of emerging ideas. The fresher those ideas are, the more successful the event.

Emerging

There is some prestige in being invited to the Davos meeting. This is why President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was no doubt pleased when the organizer of this meeting invited him to share his thinking at this influential gathering. This was an invitation hard to turn down.

Mr. Marcos is a freshly elected leader from a region that is of rising global importance. Geopolitics assigns the Philippines a vital role in this part of the world. Decision-makers everywhere would want to get a good read of his thinking. He will likely be asked, mainly informally, about his views on a wide range of issues from climate change to the security alliances we have forged.

For his part, Mr. Marcos ranks diplomacy high on his personal agenda. He has a tough act to follow. His father exercised diplomacy on a grand scale. He stood as a spokesman for developing countries. He solicited international support for his own domestic initiatives. People will be curious to see if he reprises the role his father played on the global stage – and if he reprises it well.

He did say, before leaving for Davos, that he plans to do a “soft launch” for his pet Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF). No one in the forum is interested in listening to yet another pitch to participate in a sovereign wealth fund that has no proven record for superior returns. MIF is an idea that has yet to survive the legislative mill. Already, resistance to this idea caused the removal of the pension funds from the list of entities from which funding would be sourced.

The President would be better off talking about steps the country has taken to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. Our recent diplomatic initiatives were strong pitching for climate justice and the establishment of a global fund to help countries most severely affected by global warming.

He might also be better off elaborating on our efforts to maintain equidistance from the great powers competing to make Southeast Asia a zone under their influence. There are many issues attaching to this insistence on being “friend to all and enemy to no one.”

As the only ASEAN leader present at Davos this year, he should represent the vision and interests of our regional association. The ASEAN, and the common market it is trying to build, has been underrepresented in global discussions.

Whiners

We will never be short of people who will whine about every presidential initiative. They will pander to the lowliest parochial instincts and complain about the expenses incurred in furtherance of the country’s diplomatic goals.

Whiners are complaining about the expense required to participate in the Davos meeting, the size of the presidential entourage (that has not been officially disclosed) and even that fact that the presidential plane was escorted to the boundaries of our airspace by two Air Force fighter planes (which is usual protocol). It will be a challenge to convince the most parochial partisans that diplomacy is an essential part of the Chief Executive’s duties.

It is likewise difficult to quantify the long-term benefits of participation in international meetings. In the case of state visits, government is always obliged to come up with the “bacon” the President takes home in the form of investment pledges. This cannot be done, obviously, in the case of participation in a global forum.

Attendance at Davos is, nevertheless, important.