TAKE-AWAYS FROM THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: 2025 MEETING

THEME: COLLABORATION FOR THE INTELLIGENT AGE

ABOUT THE FORUM
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. It provides a global, impartial and not-for-profit platform for meaningful connection between stakeholders to establish trust, and build initiatives for cooperation and progress.
In a world marked by complex challenges, the World Economic Forum engages political, business, academic, civil society and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation, it is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests, upholding the highest standards of governance, moral and intellectual integrity.
At the heart of her mission of improving the state of the world lies the belief in the power of human ingenuity, entrepreneurship, innovation and cooperation. She recognizes the need for a forum fostering rigorous and respectful dialogue between and among leaders with different beliefs and viewpoints, where diversity of thought is respected and all voices can be heard. Achieving this mission is made possible by all her stakeholders, who come together to find common ground and seize opportunities for positive change.
The Forum’s commitment on facilitating progress on systemic challenges is taken forward through its 10 Centres, each applying the institution’s unique combination of impact methods to drive holistic efforts. The Centres build communities of purpose essential to addressing large-scale global challenges. Guided by these communities, her centre teams convert ambition into focused action, through structured multi-year initiatives and insight generation.
Together, the forum continues to strive for a better world, where cooperation and trust lead to lasting progress.
Her Institutional Framework

The World Economic Forum engages political, business, academic, civil society and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It is independent, impartial, not tied to any special interests and upholds the highest standards of governance and moral and intellectual integrity.
The World Economic Forum has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and offices in New York and San Francisco in the United States, in Beijing, China and in Tokyo, Japan.
Established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation, the Forum received the status of an international organization for public-private cooperation from the Swiss authorities in 2015. It engages organizations and leaders through dialogue, debate and commitments for action in the service of building more future-ready, resilient, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies.
Centres

The Forum’s work on facilitating progress on systemic challenges is taken forward through its 10 centres, each applying the institution’s unique combination of impact methods to drive holistic efforts. The centres build communities of purpose that conceptualize the high-level ambition, cooperation and framework needed to address large-scale global challenges. Based on the direction provided by these communities, the Forum’s centre teams support the strategic planning and organizing architecture needed to convert ambition into focused action, through structured multi-year initiatives and insight generation.
Meetings

The work of the centres is complemented by the Forum’s meetings that provide a platform for trust-based engagement, robust debate and public-facing dialogue. They range from large-scale events, such as the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that helps coalesce a wide range of stakeholders around common long-term challenges as well as newly emerging issues, to smaller meetings designed to advance specific thematic areas or community activities, such as the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings, the Industry Strategy Meetings or The Growth Summit.
Impact

Throughout its 50-year history, the Forum has worked to improve trust through dialogue, support better decision-making through research and insights, and enable the implementation of ambitious initiatives for a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable future. These efforts have included the Davos Declaration signed in 1988 between Greece and Turkey, flagship reports that track the global gender gap, the labour market landscape and the economic outlook, as well as hundreds of public-private collaborative endeavours to improve living standards, support planetary health, provide a channel for diplomacy and dialogue, and progress industry and technology governance.

Looking ahead, the forum continues to deepen her collaboration with business, government, civil society and other stakeholders to strengthen the impact of its work, and broaden access to her endeavours through her digital platforms. The power of human ingenuity, entrepreneurship, innovation and cooperation are central to her mission. The complex challenges the world faces need a forum for rigorous and respectful dialogue between and among leaders who have different beliefs and viewpoints, where diversity of thought is respected and all voices can be heard. Achieving this mission is made possible by all her stakeholders, who come together to find common ground and seize opportunities for positive change. Together, the state of the world is improved.

Leadership and Governance

The Forum strives to model world-class corporate governance, where values are as important as rules. Legitimacy, accountability, transparency and concerted action are the guiding principles of the Forum.

The Forum is chaired by Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Professor Klaus Schwab. It's guided by a Board of Trustees, exceptional individuals who act as guardians of its mission and values, and oversee the Forum’s work in promoting true global citizenship.
The Managing Board, chaired by the Forum's President and CEO, Børge Brende, acts as the executive body of the World Economic Forum. It ensures that activities fulfill the mission of the Forum and acts as its representative to outside parties. It has a collective executive responsibility for the Forum and reports to the Board of Trustees.
The Forum’s activities are managed by its executive leadership composed of individuals from all walks of life.

Code of Conduct

The World Economic Forum adheres to the principles of independence, impartiality, moral integrity and intellectual integrity.
These principles are of utmost importance to the safeguarding of the Forum’s mission, reputation and status.
Overview

“Geo-economic fragmentation, geopolitical polarization and divisions over values continue to impact countries and communities across the world. At the same time, exponential innovation and deployment around whole sets of inter-connected technologies – from AI and quantum to energy tech, biotech and health tech – offer an unprecedented opportunity to increase productivity and hence standards of living. The forum notes that reviving and reimagining growth is critical to building stronger and more resilient economies.
Given these powerful forces at play, the forum is concerned on how the world can avoid an Age of Fragmentation and instead work together on a can-do, people-centered agenda for an Intelligent Age. Also, on how world can reinvent the muscle of collaborative innovation to get out of the current low-growth, high-debt world economy and address common challenges from climate change to the ethical use of AI”.
The Meeting

“To respond to this dynamic context, the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum which held February 2025 convened the foremost leaders from government, business and civil society - as well as preeminent scientific and cultural thinkers - under the theme Collaboration for the Intelligent Age”.
TAKE-AWAYS FROM THE 2025 MEETING

 “Rebuilding trust: In an increasingly complex and fast-moving world, societal divides have deepened as people seek to reaffirm their identities. This is occurring against a backdrop of a shift towards multipolarity in geopolitics, growing competition between global powers and policy shifts towards protectionism, leaving international cooperation at a crossroads and hampering both trade and investment. At the same time, the digital economy is playing an increasingly critical role in reviving trade. The World Trade Organization estimates that the value of digitally delivered services has increased fourfold over the past two decades, growing at an 8.2% rate annually while growth in trade averaged 5.8%”. In this context, the forum believes that it is crucial for businesses, governments, and civil society to work together to find common solutions and take decisive action. Through its Centres, the World Economic Forum integrates public-private efforts to achieve greater impact.
 Reimagining Growth: “With limited fiscal space and monetary policy tools at their disposal, policymakers will need to look towards new frontiers and sources for growth. Innovation will play a central role in fully achieving global economic recovery and avoiding the spectre of a “Tepid Twenties” marked by slow growth, record-high debt levels and depleted fiscal buffers”. The forum believes reviving and reimagining growth is critical to building stronger and more resilient economies., identify the new sources of growth in this new global economy. In this context, the forum believes that it is crucial for businesses, governments, and civil society to work together to find common solutions and take decisive action. Through its Centres, the World Economic Forum integrates public-private efforts to achieve greater impact.
 Investing in People: “Technological advancements are impacting everything from employment, skills and wealth distribution to healthcare, education and public services. Among the most urgent of these impacts is the need to reskill and upskill people to meet the demands of the economy of tomorrow and capitalize on the millions of new jobs in emerging and frontier fields which are higher up the value chain. While nearly 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, it is anticipated that most of this impact will be to augment work rather than to fully automate existing occupations. Strong job creation is already being experienced in the digital and service economies and it will be crucial to continue translating technological gains into net-positive results for the workforce”. The forum believes that the public and private sectors should invest in human capital development and good jobs that contribute to the development of a modern and resilient society. In this context, the forum believes that it's crucial for businesses, governments, and civil society to work together to find common solutions and take decisive action. Through its Centres, the World Economic Forum integrates public-private efforts to achieve greater impact.
 Safeguarding the Planet: “Innovative partnerships and dialogue that enable investments and the deployment of climate and clean technologies will be critical to progress on global climate and nature goals, as well as to address the ‘energy trilemma’ of ensuring an affordable, secure and sustainable energy supply. She also believes that a scaling up of ambition, governance, partnerships and capital is necessary to accelerate decarbonization efforts to reach net zero, invest in nature-positive transition pathways and ensure the circularity and resilience of resource systems overall”. In this context, the forum believes that it is crucial for businesses, governments, and civil society to work together to find common solutions and take decisive action. Through its Centres, the World Economic Forum integrates public-private efforts to achieve greater impact.
 Industries in the Intelligent Age: “Industries have had to adapt their business strategies to account for major geo-economic and technological shifts. Recent surveys indicate that technology is now the primary driver of change and disruption for businesses across sectors. The forum believes that leaders need to be equipped with a new leadership toolkit to adapt to and fully capitalize on these deep and structural changes. Noting that while advancements in AI, quantum computing, biotech, robotics and automation and other fields present numerous opportunities, new technologies are also hiking energy demand”.
In this context, the forum believes that it's crucial for businesses, governments, and civil society to work together to find common solutions and take decisive action. Through its Centres, the World Economic Forum integrates public-private efforts to achieve greater impact.
In summary, 2025 World Economic Forum is presenting collaboration as the game changer for addressing the challenges of the intelligent age. Source: World Economic Forum, 2025 Meeting
Dr. Young C. Okezie is the Committee Chairman, Research, Innovation and Professional Development of the Chartered Institute of Development Studies and Administration of Nigeria.