At a crucial moment for the world economy, the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 served as a platform for advancing dialogue, cooperation and partnerships.
    Close to 3,000 leaders from government, business, civil society and academia from more than 130 countries, including over 350 heads of state and government and ministers, participated in the meeting around the theme of “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age”.
    With the geopolitical and geoeconomic landscapes undergoing a paradigm shift, the meeting explored how to unlock the benefit of new technologies responsibly, strengthen social and economic resilience, safeguard the planet, and advance regional and global security.
    Revisit sessions from the Annual Meeting here and on social media using #WEF25. Watch the Highlights Film here.

Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 24 January 2025 – At a time when the world is being shaped by geopolitical tensions, economic shifts and technological advancement, close to 3,000 policy-makers, business executives, international organization and civil society leaders, academics and innovators from around the world convened at the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to address shared challenges and explore sustainable solutions under the theme “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age”.

Around 500 sessions and workshops took place, facilitating dialogue, debate and alignment across many perspectives. Over the course of the week, the Forum and its partners also launched or advanced high-impact initiatives, communities and insights, serving as ongoing platforms for multi-year collaboration across geographies and industries.

“The future does not just unfold. The future is shaped by people,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, World Economic Forum. “By embracing constructive optimism and believing in our collective capacity and commitment to improve the state of the world, we can shape the Intelligent Age, as an era where every human being can realize their full potential.”

“We are in one of the most complex and consequential moments in generations, when fast-changing geopolitical, geoeconomic and technological currents are shaping our societies and our industries and will do so for years to come,” said Børge Brende, President and CEO, World Economic Forum. “In this era of uncertainty, we must find ways of working together because force cannot replace discourse and conflict cannot replace compromise.”
Annual Meeting 2025: Collaboration for the Intelligent Age
Rebuilding Trust
As rapid technological change impacts societies, and amid growing geopolitical and geo-economic tensions, with a shift towards multipolarity and growing competition between global powers, leaders called for global cooperation and resilience.

“At a time of greater geopolitical turbulence, there are important signs that cooperation continues to improve lives, particularly at the regional level,” said Mirek Dušek, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “Across the world, many economies are stepping up to work with one another on advancing innovative and growth agendas for all."

US President Donald J. Trump remarked that he would “like to meet with President Putin soon” and “get the war ended,” highlighting the heavy human cost of the conflict in Ukraine.

“Protectionism leads nowhere. Trade war has no winners,” said Ding Xuexiang, Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China.

“To sustain our growth in the next quarter of the century, Europe must shift gears,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “We should not take anything for granted. We must look for new opportunities wherever they arise. This is the moment to engage beyond blocs and taboos. And Europe is ready for change.”

“From the Middle East to Ukraine, to Sudan and beyond, we still face an uphill battle. We will never give up in calling for peace – but peace grounded on values: The UN charter, international law, including international humanitarian law, and the principles of sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of states,” said António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General.

“Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for everybody – for itself and for others, for those in the world who matter to Europe,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine.

“We are fortunate the [South-East Asian] region is relatively the most peaceful, with the fastest growing economy and very pragmatic policies,” said Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia. “We are able to do that primarily because the relations and the trust between leaders are exemplary.”

A series of discussions addressed the situation in the Middle East:

“Our whole foreign policy stands for mediation, facilitation and keeping open communication with everyone, to bring peace through mediation not through wars,” said Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar.

Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, welcomed the recent ceasefire and release of three hostages, but cautioned against unwarranted optimism. “I want to be lucid and cautious…there are opportunities, but still risks. We must ensure this never happens again,” he said.

Weeks after the sudden collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime, Asaad Hasan AlShaibani, Minister of Affairs of Syria, outlined the new government's plans. "We will not look to the past. We will look to the future. And we promise to our people that this misery will not be repeated," adding that the government will respect the rights of women and reject the sectarian division that has long plagued the country.

“Optimism is not a choice; it is a must,” said Varsen Aghabekian, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Palestinian National Authority, adding that she hopes the ceasefire brings something more sustainable in the future. Addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Aghabekian underscored the need for immediate relief efforts and long-term planning. “We have to ensure that the aid is reaching the people,” she said.

The Forum and its partners advanced the following initiatives related to delivering insight and rebuilding trust at a complex geopolitical moment:

    The Forum’s Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 measured the state of cooperation and offered pragmatic, solutions-driven recommendations for strengthening collaboration in a period of heightened global volatility and geopolitical instability.
    The Global Risks Report 2025 survey of over 900 experts identified state-based armed conflict as the most immediate risk for 2025. Misinformation and disinformation lead the short-term risks and may fuel instability and undermine trust in governance. Environmental risks dominate the 10-year horizon.
    The Forum’s Resilience Consortium published Resilience Pulse Check: Harnessing Collaboration to Navigate a Volatile World, a global survey of over 250 executives that explores how firms are prioritizing resilience preparedness.
    In continuation of the Forum’s work on delivering insight into European growth and competitiveness, the Forum launched reports on Europe in the Intelligent Age: From Ideas to Action, Open but Secure: Europe's Path to Strategic Interdependence, and Delivering on the European Green Deal: A Private Sector Perspective – Second Edition.
    The Forum launched Global Data Partnership Against Forced Labour, which is a coalition of leaders focused on accelerating data-driven collective action against forced labour in supply chains.
    The Malaysian government and the Forum agreed on a collaboration for the 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship to bring public and private sector leaders together around economic opportunities.
    The Government of Mongolia and the World Economic Forum signed an agreement to develop a Mongolia Strategic Intelligence Hub, an AI-powered platform that will support the country’s Vision 2050.

Reimagining Growth
The meeting explored new opportunities for economic growth at a time when growth projections remain muted.

"What we are going to see over time is a reflection in trade and economic relations of a geopolitically changing world,” said Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. “More regional cooperation, more cooperation based on supply chains, more engagement that allows countries to achieve their objectives.”

“We need a banking union, we need capital markets union, we need to keep the talent at home and we need to keep the savings at home,” said Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for renewed commitments to security and prosperity in the face of global challenges, emphasizing that partnerships serve as the “engine for successful economic development.” Friedrich Merz, Leader of the Opposition of Germany, detailed how key the manufacturing industry was to Germany and that it was the “backbone” of Germany’s economy.

“Argentina has become a global example of fiscal responsibility, of commitment to honouring our obligations, and obviously a commitment to solving the inflation problem,” said Javier Milei, President of Argentina.

“Many agree that Africa is the next frontier of global growth and productivity,” said Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa. “The African continent has an unrivalled natural resource endowment, with the youngest population of all continents.”

“This is going to be the year of opportunities for the country,” said Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, who highlighted the importance of “soft power”.

The Forum and its partners advanced the following initiatives related to reimagining growth:

    As part of the Future of Growth Initiative, the Forum launched a country-level accelerator in Egypt, while Saudi Arabia announced an action plan to expand on its ongoing Markets of Tomorrow accelerator.
    The Forum also published two cutting-edge insights – a Chief Economists Outlook exploring the latest global economic trends and Global Economic Futures: Productivity in 2030, which examines how technology and human capital could reshape productivity over the next five years.
    The Artificial Intelligence for Efficiency, Sustainability and Inclusivity in TradeTech report outlined a vision for the future of trade that harnesses AI's full potential.
    The Forum released the Navigating Global Financial System Fragmentation report, which measures the economic costs of geopolitical fragmentation. It proposes eight principles to protect the financial system, as validated by more than 25 global financial leaders.
    The Davos Baukultur Alliance announced a key milestone with more than 75 member organizations with operations in over 140 countries, committing to support a shared vision for advancing more inclusive, sustainable and vibrant communities.
    The From Blind Spots to Insights: Enhancing Geopolitical Radar to Guide Global Business report explored how businesses can develop and deploy deep and insightful geopolitical monitoring.
    Leaders from across sectors endorsed the Forum's new Trade Compliance Practitioners group that will exchange on new trade obligations, particularly around sanctions, regulations and tariffs.
    UpLink, the Forum’s early-stage innovation engine, announced the launch of Yes/Cities, a commitment by Forum partners to drive investments into urban innovation ecosystems around the world, to provide direct support to more than 1,000 innovators by 2030.

Investing in People
Participants addressed the need for workforce development, reskilling and job creation in emerging sectors to drive equitable growth and prosperity.

“This is the most powerful generation in human history,” said Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser to the Interim Government of Bangladesh, before addressing politicians around the world: “Are you allowing your young people to move up? You have to understand this generation and prepare.”

“Closing the job gap is an international, societal challenge,” said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore. “It is the mismatch of skills and aspirations that leads to social disorder.”

Elizabeth Shuler, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, added a labour perspective, stressing the importance of ensuring high-wage jobs in this transformation: “Working people want to be part of defining this future and making it a prosperous, safe one for the workers who will power these industries.”

“We need to reconfigure the institutions, the routines, that we are so used to which have marginalized young people,” said Duma Gideon Boko, President of Botswana. “We now have to bring them on board. They need to have access to skills. Not just academic training, skills.”

“Healthier women form the foundation of stronger families, productive workplaces and resilient economies,” said Anita Zaidi, Board Co-Chair of the Global Alliance for Women’s Health, and President of Gender Equality, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Yet profound gender gaps in research and scientific innovation continue to deny women the basic tools, treatments and services they need to remain healthy.”

Initiatives:

    Marking five years of impact, the Reskilling Revolution has secured commitments for better education and skills for 716 million people – on track to reach 1 billion by 2030 – while adding Bahrain as a new Country Accelerator.
    Following the launch of the Future of Jobs Report 2025, which explores how jobs and skills will evolve over the next five years, the Jobs Initiative rallied CEO- and minister-level champions to shape inclusive job creation and transitions, including a new jobs accelerator partnership with Indonesia.
    Building on the launch of five new policy guidelines, the Equitable Transition Initiative welcomed 40 additional organizations committed to ensuring economic equity within private-sector decarbonization.
    The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouses 2025 report provided an overview of the latest trends in fostering diversity, equity and inclusion worldwide.
    The Forum announced the first Healthcare Country Lighthouse in collaboration with a university based in Singapore. Additionally, a report on health data collaboration presented an urgent call to enhance global health data collaboration.
    The Forum also released a report on the role the life sciences sector can play in mitigating the effects of climate change on human health and the knock-on benefits on the global economy. It anticipates that investing $65 billion over the next five to eight years in research and development for climate-related health solutions could prevent 6.5 million deaths, save $5.9 trillion, and avoid a billion disability-adjusted life years.
    The new Women’s Global Health Alliance report, highlighted that women live 25% more of their lives in poor health compared to men and outlined targeted action around nine key health conditions to reduce the global disease burden by 27 million disability-adjusted life years.
    The Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards spotlighted 18 values-driven social innovators whose groundbreaking solutions are driving positive change worldwide.
    The Shapers Impact Report spotlighted insights from nearly 4,000 young leaders from over 140 countries tackling critical issues like climate change, unemployment and inequality.
    The meeting announced the 31st Annual Crystal Awardees: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and global advocate for children's rights David Beckham; fashion designer, philanthropist and champion of women’s rights Diane von Furstenberg; and architect, social activist and 2024 Pritzker Prize laureate Riken Yamamoto.
    The Forum launched a new dedicated initiative on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to unlock funding and drive action to reduce global deaths associated with AMR.

Industries in the Intelligent Age
Participants examined how business can navigate technological shifts and new industry dynamics.

“In this era of rapid technological change, leaders must balance innovation with responsibility,” said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “Our discussions focused on maximizing the benefits of emerging technologies, informing governance frameworks to build effective mitigation strategies, and fully using them to drive prosperity and growth.”

“My guess is that we can make 100 years of progress in areas like biology in five or 10 years if we really get this AI stuff right,” said Dario Amodei, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Anthropic.

"For companies with CEOs who are both visionary and deep in the execution, AI is being used at scale now," said Julie Sweet, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Accenture.

“The technology is moving at an incredible rate,” said Matt Garman, Chief Executive Officer, Amazon Web Services. “I don't know that we've seen technology progress as fast as it has. And I think one of the challenges of that is it's hard for everyone to keep up.”

"Collaboration among multiple stakeholders at the national, regional and global levels will be essential in fostering growth and prosperity through AI for everyone," said Solly Malatsi, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies of South Africa.      

“If we are not careful, AI will exacerbate the digital divide,” said Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda.

The Forum and its partners developed the following initiatives related to industries in the Intelligent Age:

    The Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 highlighted the increasing complexity in the cyber landscape due to the rapid growth of emerging technologies, geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain vulnerabilities and a growing cyber skills gap.
    The Global Lighthouse Network welcomed 17 new members to the community of 189 industry leaders pioneering Fourth Industrial Revolution manufacturing. The Network’s latest report explored how Lighthouses leverage AI and other advanced technologies to drive operational impact.
    The Forum released a new report series Industries in the Intelligent Age detailing practical strategies for responsible AI adoption at scale across key industries. Reports included: Regional specific: China; Cross-Industry; Media, Entertainment and Sport; Financial Services; Energy; Cybersecurity; Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains; Healthcare; Transportation. The Forum also introduced Frontier MINDS (Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions), a new platform to scale replicable, high-impact AI use cases from across the world.
    The AI Governance Alliance launched the AI Competitiveness through Regional Collaboration Initiative, promoting strategies for the development of robust AI ecosystems and value chains, addressing critical barriers such as talent shortages, infrastructure gaps, and equitable access to AI resources through regional and global collaborations.
    The Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network welcomed three new centres in Oman, South Africa, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and C4IR UAE’s renewal, strengthening its mission to drive technological innovation for sustainable, inclusive progress. The C4IR Network Impact Report spotlighted the transformative power of technology.
    The City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, announced a new partnership with the Forum to establish a Fourth Industrial Revolution Centre focused on accelerating urban transformation, government technology and sustainability.

Safeguarding the Planet
With climate change-related extreme weather events and risks increasingly evident, leaders called for the need for swifter, wider and deeper action. The meeting built on the momentum from the three UN COPs on Climate, Land and Biodiversity in 2024 to scale the deployment of renewable energy, drive energy efficiencies while addressing energy demand, and protect and restore nature.
 
“Extreme weather is increasing in intensity and frequency, imposing growing risks to homes, jobs and businesses. We can and have to start investing into solutions that can better protect communities and ensure business continuity, while cutting emissions and protecting nature,” said Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
 
“I think that trade is a force multiplier for helping us manage and mitigate climate change and get to net zero by 2050...it’s absolutely clear to me that you could not have the adoption of technology and clean energy the way we would like it in the world without trade,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization.      
 
“The Global South is paying the price for other areas of the world causing climate change,” said Cindy H. McCain, Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme. “The people that can least afford it, that have the least ability to fight it, are the ones being affected the most.”

“As Indigenous women, nature is so important for us and our survival,” said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President, Association for Fulani Women and Indigenous Peoples of Chad.

“Climate damage in developing and developed countries has halted the alleviation of poverty,” said Al Gore, Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001); Chairman and Co-Founder, Generation Investment Management LLP.

The Forum and its partners developed the following initiatives related to safeguarding the planet:

    The Forum launched five principles for responsible renewable infrastructure deployment, aiming to define the benchmarks for “good” renewable energy projects and accelerate the renewable energy transition.
    Thirteen leading industrial clusters from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom have recently joined the World Economic Forum’s Transitioning Industrial Clusters initiative. A new white paper highlights the critical role that industrial clusters play in advancing the deployment of clean-energy infrastructure at scale. It features leading players deploying innovative collaboration and business models while harnessing the power of digital technologies.
    The Accelerating the Energy Transition: Unpacking the Business and Economic Cases report articulated the difficulty of translating the well-established benefits of climate action into private investment.
    The Forum released its first State of Nature and Climate report, presenting the latest data on planetary health and global corporate progress in addressing climate and nature challenges.
    The Forum published six reports aimed at accelerating the global shift toward a nature-positive future. Five focused on sector-specific strategies for critical industries – offshore wind, mining and metals, ports, and automotive – while the sixth examined financing solutions for building nature-positive cities.
    The Forum’s inaugural Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA) Awards honoured five groundbreaking initiatives that are advancing solutions to the world’s most pressing climate and nature challenges. The five awarded collaborations will receive tailored support throughout 2025 to advance and scale impact and drive systems-wide change.
    Thailand joined the First Movers Coalition for Food, the biggest coalition tackling market demand with over 50 partners and representing over $900 billion in combined revenues, to empower farmers through collaboration.
    The Democratic Republic of Congo government announced the creation of the world’s largest tropical forest reserve – an area the size of France. With new funding announced by the European Union of €42 million, the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor combines forest preservation, sustainable economic development and renewable energy, and is supported by the Forum’s trillion tree platform 1t.org.
    The Global Plastics Action Partnership (GPAP) achieved its ambitious target of establishing 25 national partnerships by 2025, making it the world’s largest initiative tackling plastic pollution, with Kenya, Gabon, Guatemala, Angola and Senegal joining, along with the recent inclusion of Tanzania and Bangladesh. GPAP is now set to drive change for over 1.5 billion people worldwide.
    UpLink announced the winners of the Tackling Water Pollution Challenge in which 10 Aquapreneurs from nine countries were chosen for their innovative solutions in the freshwater sector. The winners will share financial awards from a pool of CHF 1.75 million, enabling them to scale their initiatives and amplify their impact.
    Leading companies across retail, e-commerce, mobility and logistics announced new commitments and a shared ambition for more sustainable and efficient urban deliveries, while working with government to embrace new solutions and models that benefit consumers, couriers, companies and cities.
    The Forum announced a new Africa Business Adaptation Platform to unlock and scale private sector investments to strengthen climate resilience efforts across Africa, focused on agriculture and infrastructure.
    The Forum’s International Business Council outlined the Urgent Actions to Transform Energy Demand and Double Energy Efficiency Progress by 2030.
    The Global Energy Transitions Forum was launched calling for action from governments, industry, and financial sectors to continue the implementation of the tripling renewable and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.