Argonaut Aura

I was reading times magazine and came across an interesting article in the Feb 08 issue on World Economic Forum. This brought to mind my experience attending the World Business Forum 2006. I recalled probably being the youngest in the crowd. At that time, there is no such thing as youtube where you can get such contents online, unlike World Economic Forum 2008. Check out rice and bill gates speeches especially. very interesting and inspiring. though rice is still rather consumed with propagating US in her speech. perhaps US is viewed as the leader as it is willing to step in to fill this role. Though increasingly, there are doubts cast over our big brother (perhaps due to criticisms over Bush administration propagated through media) and whether the Anglo-Saxon world is still relevant in the new century (with the rise of Asia dominance in the world economy). Is democracy for everybody? Is diplomacy based on permanent interest? I’m not sure if rice’s speech is objectively answering these questions though her viewpoints are clear.

Bill speaks about socially conscious entrepreneurs and propagates the concept of doing well by doing good, what he termed as ‘creative capitalism’. Corporate social responsibility will be increasingly the focus in a world plagued by global warming, global food shortages, rising energy (esp gas) prices etc. And perhaps, the next big company will be one who can clearly address social issues while making a profit, what we term as social entrepreneurs.

The Future of Global Governance is also another interesting discussion albeit long one on govt 2.0 – a ‘citizen-centric’ approach to foster greater collaboration and innovation to address future global challenges.  This is also in-lined with an article on economist that speaks about how most government fails to utilise e services to connect with citizens. 

Michael Porter also speaks in an interview about ‘competitiveness’. something he has clearly shaped and defined in economics text which was a huge part of my study and focus back in school. The five forces model is drilled well.

An interesting phenomenon is the growth of sovereign wealth funds (mentioned briefly) which utilises investment funds derived from public income and managed by government appointees, who had injected some $70billion into US finance houses. The call by IMF for Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Norway to look into their fund management code of conduct also raises awareness and concern. Will the powers of the market falls into their hands or perhaps their wield on the market will grow? 5% of offshore assets totaling $7 trillion are held by private banking centres in Singapore, one of the largest share in Asia, followed by 4% in Hong Kong. This figure definitely raise some eyebrows especially with ‘tax havens / heavens’ topping the charts; 27% in Switzerland, 14% in Channel islands, 13% in Caribbean area as well as Luxembourg. Again, the Liechtenstein issue did come into play. As singapore moves towards being a wealth management centre, will it tighten its banking secrecy belt further? Will tax policies be just a tool to be tweaked to achieve this goal? With easy access to being a permanent resident in SG (as long as you have millions at your disposal), how will it shape the future Singapore economy?

This year’s WEF is centred on ‘The Power of Collaborative Innovation’. The theme seems to be an extension of ‘wisdom of the crowds’. Zander has an inspiring closing delivery that touches on radiating possibilities (I’m still looking for the video though) .

My experience at world business forum 06 was great though i wished that a younger audience will be more sought for. After all, there is great potential in instilling such hope and inspiration to the young business leaders as they will be key in pioneering the next change efforts. The live experience do provides a greater kick of the realism that you can be a part of a greater thing in this world. =)