Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is to rub shoulders with the world's business and political elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.
The forum in the small Swiss alpine town is now in its 54th year and over 100 Governments and 1,000 businesses will be represented.
Themes such as AI and tackling disinformation are expected to feature predominantly throughout the event, according to Politico journalist Suzanne Lynch.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Ms Lynch said she expects strong representation from all global sectors to attend.
“We have a mix of global leaders here like French President Emanuel Macron and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken,” she said.
“Then you’d have a lot of CEOs from big banks and tech companies.
“There’s also an increasing number of NGOs and civil society representatives here as well to make their voices heard.”
Absences
World leaders Rishi Sunak, Joe Biden, and Xi Jinping were noted by Ms Lynch as some big absences from the event.
“They do have their people here though,” she said.
“It’s all about getting facetime with businesses and investors to try and charm these deep-pocketed business people to invest in their countries."
US President Donald Trump meets with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum in 2020. Image: PBH Images / Alamy Stock PhotoMs Lynch said attracting investment is “essentially” why Leo Varadkar is at the WEF.
“Irish Taoisigh go every year here and, of course, Ireland has got a huge amount of foreign direct investment,” she said.
“You’ll also see other countries like India, for example, who are booming and have a huge presence here with lots of representatives from different states.
“Other people are here to do more about AI, for example, which is a big focus this year – we’re seeing lots of discussion about that.
“We’ve got some small startups here who are looking for investors and people to back their business – those kinds of conversations are happening there.”
Facilitating discussions
The forum has also become popular in recent years for facilitating discussions on global issues, according to Ms Lynch.
“One of those main risks they see is in AI,” she said.
“The threat of disinformation and how information is used is very important, particularly in a big election year like 2024 where millions, if not billions of people, will be going to the polls.
“We’ve got the US, and European Parliament elections, but also India, Bangladesh, and Taiwan.
“They are seeing this issue of information misuse and disinformation as a major issue now for civic society, the economy and for politics.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meeting President Zelenskyy in Ukraine 20-7-2023. Photo by the Office of the President of UkraineMs Lynch said there is a strong “security presence” at the event because of one global leader’s attendance.
“We’ve got President Zelensky here who is expected to give a speech tomorrow,” she said.
“He aims to try and make sure Ukraine remains on the agenda.
“Now with the conflict in the Middle East and wobbles in the US for funding in Ukraine, he is very much trying to get to a place where people are seeing Ukraine as a dominant issue in the world.”
Ms Lynch added that Zelensky was also trying to ringfence money “for the reconstruction of Ukraine” once the war was over.
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Main image: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the opening of a new fabrication plant at the Intel facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare on 29-9-23. Image: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie
