The 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF 2025) was held from January 20-24, 2025 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
- The annual meeting is based on the theme “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age” with the event organized around five sub-themes: Reimagining growth, Industries in the intelligent age, Investing in people,Safeguarding the planet and Rebuilding trust
- The event witnessed the participation of around 3,000 global leaders featuring over 350 government leaders (including 60 heads of state), business and civil society leaders, prominent scientific and cultural thinkers from more than 130 countries.
Highlights of 55th Annual Meeting of WEF:
India’s participation at WEF 2025:
i.The Indian delegation to the WEF 2025 was headed by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ministry of Railways(MoR), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting(MIB) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) with a vision of the country’s growth as One Nation, One Voice.
- He led the largest ever Indian delegation to the forum, with 5 Union ministers, 3 Chief Ministers(CMs) and several other state leaders.
ii.The delegation also included Union Minister Chandrakant Raghunath Patil, Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Union Minister Chirag Paswan, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI),Union Minister of State(MoS) (Independent Charge I/C) Jayant Chaudhary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
- Jayant Chaudhary represented India at the forum to share the country’s vision of developing a skilled workforce, promoting innovation, and advancing sustainable development.
iii.8 Indian states represented at WEF 2025 – Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Andhra Pradesh (AP), Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu(TN), Karnataka, and West Bengal(WB).
- The meeting was attended by more than 65 Indian business representatives.
iv.India participated in the ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Investment’ session, which was jointly organized by Invest India, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry(MoC&I) and World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies(WAIPA) and supported by World Investment for Development Alliance (WIDA).
- WIDA is a global platform of 13 organizations that focuses on promoting sustainable and inclusive investment through collaborative efforts.
13 industrial clusters join WEF:
i.13 new industrial clusters from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India(5), the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom (UK) have joined the WEF’s Transitioning Industrial Clusters initiative, bringing the total to 33 across 16 countries and 5 continents.
- This initiative was launched at COP26 in 2021 with an aim to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHGs) while promoting economic growth and job creation.
ii.These clusters can reduce 832 million tonnes of carbon dioxide(CO2)-equivalent emissions annually while contributing USD 492 billion to global Gross domestic product (GDP) and support 4.3 million jobs.
5 new Indian industrial clusters join WEF:
i.Gopalpur Industrial Park (Odisha)– Focused on attracting investments in green energy.
ii.Kakinada Cluster (AP)– A port-based hub for decarbonization solutions like green ammonia and hydrogen.
iii.Kerala Green Hydrogen Valley (Kerala):– supports hydrogen-powered transport strategy.
iv.Mundra Cluster (Gujarat)– Integrates green power with infrastructure for large-scale industrial projects.
v.Mumbai Green Hydrogen Cluster (Maharashtra)– Promotes the green hydrogen economy.
Note:The other clusters include – Cartagena Industrial Cluster (Colombia), Hunter Region (Australia), Jubail Industrial City (Saudi Arabia), Port of Açu Low Carbon Hub (Brazil), Port of Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Saraburi Sandbox (Thailand), The Solent Cluster (the UK) and Tranzero Initiative (Sweden).
Crystal Award Winners 2025:
i.The 31st Annual Crystal Award was announced at the WEF 2025 in Davos-Klosters.
- The Crystal Awards 2025 was presented by Hilde Schwab, Chairwoman and Co-Founder of the WEF’s World Arts Forum.
ii. The recipients of the award included renowned architect and 2024 Pritzker Prize laureate Riken Yamamoto from Japan, celebrated fashion designer, philanthropist and champion of women’s rights Diane von Furstenberg from Belgium, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and global advocate for children’s rights David Beckham from UK.
About Crystal Award:
The Crystal Award is given to those cultural leaders who have made notable contributions in promoting social, environmental and creative progress worldwide.
India Slips to 3rd Place in Edelman Trust Barometer 2025 Rankings; China topped
The 25th edition of Edelman Trust Barometer was launched during the WEF 2025 in Switzerland. According to the report, India slipped to 3rd spot in terms of the trust of the general population in the government, businesses, media and NGOs. China topped the list followed by Indonesia at the 2nd spot.
- The report was made after a survey of more than 33,000 respondents across 28 countries with Japan replacing the UK at the bottom.
Key Points:
i.India ranked low at 13th place when it comes to trust of people in other countries, in companies with Indian headquarters.
- Within the high-income group, India was ranked fourth after Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and China.
ii.Canada topped this list of foreign-headquartered companies, followed by Japan, Germany, the UK, France and the United States of America (USA), while those ranked higher than India also included Mexico, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, China and Brazil.
iii.Despite the overall decline in trust, India (75) remains one of the most trusted countries among developing nations including China (77%), Indonesia (76), and the UAE (72).
- Five of the largest 10 global economies were among the least trusting nations – Japan (the least trusting at 37%), Germany (41), the UK (43), the US (47) and France (48).
WMO Unveiled Framework for Business Engagement in EWS:
During the WEF 2025, Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) presented a white paper titled ‘Catalysing Business Engagement in Early Warning Systems (EWS)’ co-authored with the WEF and The Australian National University(ANU), Australia.
- It presented a strategy to use private sector capabilities in innovation, data utilization, and operational efficiency to adapt and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather.
- The WMO will work with governments and businesses to execute the strategies mentioned in the white paper, to close the global early warning gap by 2030, in alignment with the Early Warnings For All Initiative.
Key Highlights:
The report introduced a framework to increase business participation through:
i.Innovation in Technology– Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and big data can help businesses to make weather-driven operational decisions.
ii.Operational Optimization– Companies can use EWS data to make preventive supply chain adjustments, reduce operational risks, and create climate-resilient products.
iii.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)- EWS can help in achieving CSR goals by helping businesses protect communities and build trust.
With 7 new members GPAP expands to 25 countries:
During the WEF 2025, 7 countries – Angola, Bangladesh, Gabon, Guatemala, Kenya, Senegal, and Tanzania– joined the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), bringing a total to 25 countries with a combined population of over 1.5 billion people.
- GPAP was launched during the WEF’s Sustainable Development Summit in 2018.
- Maharashtra state, through its Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, has joined the GPAP in 2022.
- It will find solutions to tackle challenges such as promoting sustainable materials, strengthening recycling systems, reducing GHGs etc.
Note: The plastics sector is responsible for an estimated 1.8 billion tonnes of GHGs emissions annually, and much of this comes from the disposal and degradation of plastics.
Growing geoeconomic fragmentation can decrease global GDP by USD 5.7 trillion: WEF
i.The Navigating Global Financial System Fragmentation report : January 2025 developed in collaboration with Oliver Wyman was released at the event which estimated that fragmentation resulting from statecraft policies could cost the global economy USD 0.6 trillion to USD 5.7 trillion – up to 5% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – due to reduced trade and cross-border capital flows as well as lost economic efficiencies.
- It could also increase global inflation by more than 5% in a very high fragmentation scenario.
- The report shows that the economic impact of rising geoeconomic fragmentation could cross the disruptions caused by the 2008 financial crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.
ii.In the most extreme fragmentation scenario, Eastern and Western blocs could observe GDP growth decline by over 10% – with India, Brazil, Türkiye, and emerging economies in Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia bearing the greatest burden.
Anant Singh appointed to GACC:
i.Indian-origin South African filmmaker Anant Singh has been appointed to the Global Arts and Culture Council (GACC) at the GACC’s inaugural meeting held at WEF 2025.
- He is known for highlighting apartheid, Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV)/Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS), and gender-based violence through his films and one such film is ‘Long Walk to Freedom, a biopic of Nelson Mandela.
- He was honored with WEF’s Crystal Award in 2001.
ii. Other notable members of the council include- Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Academy award-winning film director); George Osbourne (Chair of the British Museum); Renee Fleming (World-renowned Soprano) and Hany Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director of the Serpentine Gallery).
- Andrea Bocelli (World-renowned Tenor); Deborah Rutter (President of the John F Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in the US); Nile Rodgers (Musician, Producer and Founder of the We Are Family Foundation; Jin Xing (Dancer – Actress and Transgender Activist); Yana Peel (Global Head of Arts & Culture – Chanel) and Misty Copeland (Dancer, Author, Producer) are other notable members of the council.
About World Economic Forum(WEF):
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Børge Brende(Norway)
Headquarters– Cologny, Switzerland
Founded– 1971
