Davos forum to take up initiative

A Davos logo is seen before the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

The World Economic Forum will hold special discussions on how to implement the Belt and Road Initiative in the best ways to leverage global market forces.

The organization plans to include discussions on how to further strengthen cooperation and support the initiative in its annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland, and the annual meetings of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, said David Aikman, the group's chief representative officer for China.

"We'll help act as a catalyst to develop the initiative into a truly open, inclusive and forward-looking cooperation platform that the region and the world need now," he said.

Although the initiative originated in China, it will benefit beyond its borders because it is about mutual responsibility and shared results, Aikman said. Globalization efforts have experienced some difficulties, but the initiative has provided a new cooperation format, he added.

Traditional frameworks of regional peace and cooperation are being torn apart by nationalist forces who blame external factors, such as refugees and terrorists, Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the economic forum, said on Sunday.

The initiative can be a model for other regions to follow when dealing with such challenges, he said. Strong regional cooperation is a major building block for successful global cooperation while people recognize that a purely market-driven global economy creates its own systemic challenges, such as a lack of inclusion and risk resilience, Schwab said.

"New models of collaboration are needed that respect our multipolar world of overlapping national, regional and global identities, as well as priorities, while striving－as President Xi put it in Davos－to adapt and guide economic globalization, cushion its negative impact and deliver its benefits to all countries and nations," he said.

The initiative is an inclusive platform that covers the entire ancient overland and maritime Silk Roads, involving the countries connected by those routes and the international and regional organizations that wish to engage in cooperation, Schwab said.

The Summer Davos Forum will be held in June in Dalian, Liaoning province. Under the theme of Achieving Inclusive Growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, over 2,000 participants from 90 countries are expected to take part in the meeting, the organization said.