President Amherd speaks to the conscience of WEF participants
Published: Tuesday, Jan 16th 2024, 11:31
Updated At: Tuesday, Jan 16th 2024, 11:31
Back to Live Feed
In her opening speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday, President Viola Amherd spoke to the representatives from business, politics and society. She appealed for rules to restore lost trust.
In doing so, she drew on the motto of this year's WEF "Rebuilding Trust". This is not a friendly phrase, but shows bluntly that mutual trust in the global community is in a bad way, said Amherd on Tuesday morning in the Davos Congress Center. "Parts of the population distrust all of us who are gathered here," said Amherd.
She therefore appealed to the responsibility of those present to restore trust. This requires rules of the game: An open and transparent exchange, insight into compromises and reliability.
She addressed not only states, but also organizations of the multilateral system. Everyone must prevent power politics from destroying the foundations of life. Real progress in the ecological transformation is therefore urgently needed. Ultimately, however, agreements must also be implemented, as this is the only way to create trust.
Suggestions are not heard
"Many of you in this room have the opportunity to strengthen cohesion and social balance in your companies," said Amherd. When the supposed elite celebrate themselves as an "aloof caste" while many families can barely make ends meet, mistrust grows. Then governments can put forward the best proposals, but they won't be heard.
"Those who demand should deliver," Amherd continued. Switzerland does this by working to build new trust, for example through the traditional "good offices" or as a member of the UN Security Council.
The Swiss Confederation wants to contribute to finding solutions - despite the increasing blockade mentality. We are not at the mercy of negative trends. "We can break them, let's get to work," said Amherd.
Complicated backgrounds
The forum in the mountains is taking place "against the most complicated geopolitical and geo-economic backdrop in decades", said WEF President Børge Brende at the opening of the meeting. In addition to the wars, the climate crisis, the rising cost of living and the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI) will also be topics of discussion.
In his speech, Forum founder Klaus Schwab said that it was a special feature of the WEF to discuss a wide range of topics. He called for clear statements and actions to "secure the future of humanity and nature."
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic