“World Economic Forum – Davos 2023…”

Davos 2023: The 5 key talking points set to dominate the agenda at this year’s World Economic Forum

For one week in January, Davos becomes the focus of the world’s attention as the global elites all converge on the small alpine town for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

They will be discussing the future direction of life on our planet and the pressing issues of the day.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) had its annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos this week. It is the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe that the event will return to its former scale last seen in 2020.

50 heads of state and government from a mix of G20 and G7 countries are due to attend, as well as 200 cabinet ministers and 1,500 business leaders. All in all, 130 countries from around the world will be represented at the meeting in the picturesque town high in the Swiss Alps.

As with every previous meeting, the most pressing issues facing the world today will be up for discussion as the 2,700 invited speakers grapple to find potential solutions.

The theme of the 2023 meeting is “Cooperation in a fragmented world”. But which global challenge will be top of their agenda to tackle first? 

These are set to be the key talking points this year.

• The cost of living crisis
• The ongoing war in Ukraine
• The climate crisis
• The growing food crisis
• The ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’

Brussels to present plans to avoid medicine shortages as Europe suffers from lack of supply 

Brussels will present plans later this year to avoid medicine shortages and improve stocks’ transparency, according to the EU’s health commissioner.

The proposals, which are expected in March, will update the bloc’s current general pharmaceuticals legislation, and aim to address the lack of supply that the EU is now experiencing. This includes antibiotics, like amoxicillin, medicines to relieve colds, the flu, and other respiratory infections, and pediatric treatments.

Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, told MEPs in Strasbourg that antibiotic shortages are increasingly becoming a problem for member states and that the revised law will provide a remedy to this.

“The main root causes that have been identified are the sharp increase in demand because of more respiratory infections along with insufficient production capacity. As these products are authorised at national level the member states’ competent authorities are already putting mitigation measures in place,” Kyriakides said.

Some of these measures include selling the generic equivalent or a similar medicine, or in some countries maybe even changing some formulations, like converting tablets to syrup, so children are able to take them.

The plans will include stronger obligations for meeting supply demands and earlier notification of shortages and withdrawals.

The situation is considered critical in most European countries, but according to Steffen Thirstrup, Chief Medical Officer at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), people should not start stockpiling medicines.

“The availability of pediatric formulations is generally lower than the ordinary tablets that you can swallow. With infections targeting children the pressure on the availability for the pediatric formulations is higher than for adult formulas,” Thirstrup told Euronews.

According to the Medicine Shortages Index, the number of out-of-stock medicines in Ireland reached 224 this week, mainly due to Irish drug manufacturers selling their products abroad for more money.

Jacinda Ardern to step down as New Zealand prime minister

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday made a shock announcement she had “no more in the tank” to continue leading the country and would step down no later than early February and not seek re-election.

Ardern, holding back tears, said that it had been a tough five and a half years as prime minister and that she was only human and needed to step aside.

Ardern said she was not stepping down because the job was hard, but because she believed others could do a better job.

She made a point of telling her daughter Neve that she was looking forward to being there when she started school this year and told her longtime partner Clarke Gayford that it was time they married.

Ardern burst onto the global scene in 2017 when she became the world’s youngest female head of government at age 37.

Riding a wave of “Jacinda-mania,” she campaigned passionately for women’s rights, and an end to child poverty and economic inequality in the country.

A ruling New Zealand Labour Party vote for a new leader will take place on Sunday; the party leader will be prime minister until the next general election. Ardern’s term as leader will conclude no later than Feb. 7 and a general election will be held on Oct. 14.

France hit by nationwide strike as unions fight Macron’s pension reform

Trains ground to a halt in France on Thursday, schools were shut, and refinery shipments blocked as workers walked off their jobs in an attempt to derail the government’s plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.

The nationwide day of strikes and protests is a major test for President Emmanuel Macron, who says his flagship reform, which opinion polls show is very unpopular, is vital to ensure the pension system does not go bust.

The challenge for unions is whether they can transform that opposition to the reform – and anger with a cost-of-living crisis – into a mass social protest that would eventually force the government to change its plans.

Union leaders, expected to announce more strikes and protests in the evening, said Thursday was just the beginning.

Unions argue there are other ways to ensure the viability of the pension system such as taxing the super-rich or increasing employers’ contributions or those of well-off pensioners.

‘Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Similarly, any views or options expressed on this website are not intended and should not be construed as being investment, tax or legal advice or recommendations. Investment advice should always be based on the circumstances of the person to whom it is directed, which circumstances have not been taken into consideration by the persons expressing the views or opinions appearing on this website. Timberland Finance has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website. You should always take professional investment advice in connection with, or independently research and verify, any information that you find or views or opinions which you read on our website and wish to rely upon, whether for the purpose of making an investment decision or otherwise. Timberland Finance does not accept liability for losses suffered by persons as a result of information, views of opinions appearing on this website. This website is owned and operated by Timberland Invest Ltd.’