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Annual Meeting 2009
Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 28 January - 1 February 2009
"Shaping the Post-Crisis World"
 Read the Annual Meeting 2009 Report (PDF)
Sunday 1 February
 Global leaders urge collaboration and swift action at close of Annual Meeting in Davos
The world’s business and government leaders only have a short time to develop effective solutions to the current economic crisis, participants at this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting were told. The message from the Annual Meeting is that leaders must continue to develop a swift and coordinated policy response to the most serious global recession since the 1930s: global challenges demand global solutions.
Session summary I Webcast I Press release I Outcomes from Davos I Photos
Saturday 31 January
 Trade officials urge G20 to accelerate Doha Round negotiations to combat crisis
Finishing the long-stalled Doha Round of multilateral trade talks is the single most valuable step global leaders can take to keep the current economic crisis from triggering a destructive protectionist backlash, according to trade officials and academic experts gathered at this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.
However, as governments struggle to contain the economic aftershocks of the financial meltdown in developed world credit markets, there is a real risk that steps taken to reflate domestic economies – such as support for troubled automakers or public lending programmes that favour local borrowers – could contribute, intentionally or unintentionally, to the alarming contraction in world trade volumes, participants warned.
Webcasts I Press release I Photos I Session summary
 Japanese PM announces $17bn in development aid
Taro Aso, Prime minister of Japan, has said that his government is willing to provide an additional $17bn for development measures in Asia. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Aso said this would help promote regional growth during the global financial downturn.
Webcasts I Photos I Session summary
Speech: English I Japanese
 UK’s Brown warns of financial protectionism, urges cooperation
Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom warned at the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos that financial protectionism is a greater danger than trade protectionism in the current global economic crisis. He told participants that cooperation between major powers and global financial institutions is vital to ensure a continued flow of credit to developing and smaller countries, which are likely to be the biggest victims of the recession.
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 UK’s Brown warns of financial protectionism, urges cooperation
Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom warned on Saturday that financial protectionism is a greater danger than trade protectionism in the current global economic crisis. “There is an implicit protectionism in what is happening now,” he declared, referring to moves in several countries to restrict government funding for bolstering endangered banks to national financial institutions and barring overseas operations from benefiting. This is leading to the withdrawal of capital from these institutions’ foreign operations.
Webcasts I Press release I Photos I Session summary
 Annual Meeting participants to continue discussions on new virtual 24/7 network
Participants at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 will continue their discussions about the key issues on the global agenda in a new virtual network. WELCOM, the World Economic Leaders Community, is a social network exclusively reserved for the Partners and Members of the World Economic Forum.
WELCOM is designed to connect leaders to global issues. WELCOM members will engage in virtual meetings with video-enabled collaboration, exchange or share documents for concurrent collaboration, and discuss topics live at any moment of the day.
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Co-Chairs
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations (1997-2006); Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum
Stephen Green, Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings, United Kingdom
Anand Mahindra, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, India
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation, USA
Maria Ramos, Group Chief Executive, Transnet Limited, South Africa
Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive, Royal Dutch Shell plc
Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Board of Management, Bayer, Germany
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