1. The turmoil in global financial markets has created a charged atmosphere at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this year. Is this just another financial crisis or does it portend something deeper? Sovereign Wealth Funds has become a hot topic with some speakers suggesting that the recent multi-billion dollar investments are an indication of a leakage of power from the West to the East. "Decoupling" and "recoupling" are words much used. Bernanke and the US Fed came in for some criticism but if they had not taken decisive action, we might be in a much worse state now.
2. Davos is an interesting phenomenon. For so many important people to travel all the way to this winter ski resort every year, braving snow and ice, suffering poor accomodation, tight security and slow road traffic,
says something about the remarkable achievement of Dr Klaus Schwab, the founder of WEF. It only took off after the fall of the Berlin Wall when the annual meeting provided a ready forum for leaders to network and make sense of a new world. In recent years, the representation from East Asia has improved. At the hotel where we are staying this year, the Chinese delegation brought its own chefs and set up its own Chinese kitchen. Pity Singaporeans don't have dining rights.
3. Some months ago, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed that we should make a joint presentation at Davos this year to celebrate our 40th Anniversary and talk about the recently-signed ASEAN Charter. In addition to PM Lee, we have PM Abdullah Badawi from Malaysia and President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal from the Philippines. The other countries are represented by DPMs and ministers except Myanmar. The Myanmar minister was denied a visa by the Swiss Goverment. Apparently, they have the same blacklist against Myanmar leaders as the EU. We didn't know. As ASEAN Chairman, we protested but there was little we could do as WEF is not a government meeting.
4. This is my 4th WEF. On Thursday afternoon, I took part in a session on 'orchestrating a new concert of powers' and had the honour of sitting next to Dr Henry Kissinger. Other participants included President Shimon Peres of Israel, DPM Kudrin from Russia, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Lloyd Blankfein, Chmn and CEO of Goldman Sachs. The session was chaired by Richard Smith, Chmn and Editor-in-chief of Newsweek. I talked about the far-reaching consequences of the re-emergence of Asia in this century and the importance of accomodating China and India in the global framework. It was a lively session.
George Yeo
Minister Yeo's meeting with Dr Jacques Attali, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Economic Reforms, France
Minister's meeting with Mr Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Minister Yeo having a chat with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda
Dear Minister Yeo,
Thank you for sharing your experiences at Davos. I am intrigued by your comment that some people, apparently important and powerful enough to speak at Davos who see a "leakage of power from West to East" - is there an implicit thinking behind their statement that the world had been a Western-dominated universe, and that there is essentially a East-West (ideological?) divide? And by "decoupling", do they suggest a more "inward-looking" attitude towards global phenomena such as pollution, poverty and conflict?
Posted by: arthur chia | January 28, 2008 at 10:02 PM