Davos: Global economic concerns cast shadow as summit begins

Global leaders arrived in Davos last night for the start of the World Economic Forum amid increasing concerns about the health of the global economy, as the IMF cut its global forecast for the year and Chinese growth figures pointed to a slowdown in the economy.

On Tuesday the IMF cut its growth estimates for next year, predicting that the global economy will expand by 3.4 per cent this year, down from the 3.6 per cent growth levels predicted in October.

Its updated global forecasts were published as research from PWC showed that confidence in the global business environment has fallen sharply among business leaders.

The latest PwC Annual Global CEO survey of more than 1,400 business leaders that only 35 per cent of chief executives are confident of their business’ growth in the coming year, down from 39 per cent last year. Overall, 27 per cent of business leaders believe global growth will improve over the next 12 months, a decline of 10 points on last year.

Concerns about the health of the Chinese economy, falling oil prices and the ongoing refugee crisis are expected to dominate the four-day forum, which brings together senior figures from the world of business, politics and social activism.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is due to arrive in Davos on Wednesday night, and is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings on Thursday. Among the senior figures the Taoiseach is scheduled to meet are the president of Argentina, Maurico Macri, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and senior executives from Google, Microsoft and PayPal. He will also be a key contributor to a debate on rebooting the global economy on Thursday.

Cure for cancer

In an indication of the range of issues likely to dominate the four-day summit, US vice president Joe Biden indicated last night that the drive to discover the cure for cancer was a priority of the US. "We are at an inflection point" in the fight against cancer he said as he arrived in Davos. "Just in the past few years we've seen some major advances in technology and science." Vice president Joe Biden, who lost his son to cancer last year, is among the most senior US officials in attendance at the 46th World Economic Forum, with US Secretary of State John Kerry also scheduled to attend.

Jordan trade deal

Meanwhile, British prime minister David Cameron is expected to urge European leaders to relax EU trade rules with Jordan, in a bid to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis when he arrives in Davos on Wednesday. Mr Cameron is due to co-host a meeting of business and political leaders in Davos on Friday with Queen Rania of Jordan.

As official proceedings got underway in Davos on Tuesday night , actor Leonardo diCaprio was honoured for his work on climate change. The actor announced that his foundation would donate another $15 million (€13.7 million) to environmental projects, but appealed to big business to cut their dependence on coal and gas.

“We simply cannot allow the corporate greed of the coal, oil and gas industries to determine the future of humanity,” he said.

Other celebrities expected to attend are singer will.i.am, U2 frontman Bono and actor Kevin Spacey.

One notable absence is German chancellor Angela Merkel who is not attending the forum as domestic pressures grow over the refugee crisis. German president Joachim Gauck ‘s address later on Wednesday is likely to be closely watched for any indication on his views on the refugee crisis.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde and ECB president Mario Draghi are among the senior global policy makers due to attend the event.