17 March 2025
Each year during winter, industry players, world leaders, and non-governmental organisation heads meet in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum. Since its inception in 1971, the conference has hosted debates on the pressing trends of economic development and societal wellbeing. This year, the theme of the WEF was ‘collaboration for the Intelligent Age,’ and discussions addressed the topics of innovation, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and digitalisation.
A disturbing trend: The move towards unilateralism
The WEF acknowledged that there is an emerging trend that economic powers are moving towards isolationism, despite calls from developing economies to retain and to enhance multilateralism. United States President Donald Trump’s second administration gave a heads up that the world largest economy, with a Gross Domestic Product of US$29 trillion in 2024[ii], is discussing the introduction of tariff hikes. These tariffs include 25% on goods from U.S. neighbours, Mexico and Canada, 60% for its strategic competitor China, and 10% for the rest of the world. Though the newly inaugurated administration is still in the midst of finalising these tariffs, it is likely that they will be higher than those of former Biden’s administration.
Though many countries claim that multipolarism is the key to economic success, there have been a severe trend of trust deficit (among developing economies) in the last 10 years. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established in 1995 based on the 1944 Bretton Woods monetary management system faces criticism for regional exemptions that circumvent the most favoured nation (MFN) principle, which is supposed to ensure equality for all trade partners. Under the Lome Convention, for instance, the European Union gets preferential treatment when importing bananas from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. In another example, Indonesia and Malaysia have alleged that the EU’s Deforestation-Free Regulation in 2023, discriminates against their palm oil farmers and exporters by not considering the conditions they face. On the other hand, The United Nations (UN) was set up to monitor development growth and reduce inequalities, but the body is being criticised for staying silent on political and major security conflicts around the world.
Major questions about game-changing technologies
Technologically, the world is moving towards using advanced technologies (AT) and artificial intelligence (AI). The Intelligent Age we are entering, however, will reduce human contribution towards decision-making and mostly be dominated by machine learning and algorithms. There are some fundamental questions worth debating. Will AT and AI make the world more united or fragmented? What are the roles of AT and AI in building trust? Concomitantly, will there be a room for innovation to rebuild trust among world economies?
These questions are crucial in shaping an Intelligent Age that benefits all societies. While most of the attendees at Davos meeting are high-ranking individuals and world leaders, as of 2023, 5% of the world population remain unemployed[iii], and 18% of the world’s population in 110 countries are trapped in acute poverty[iv]. Their concerns are also worthy of discussion, and the Davos elites should aim for a meaningful collaboration with them in this new era.
Of all the discussion topics put forward at Davos 2025[v], reimagining growth might be the most important. Economists and world thinkers explored growth in the new age. Will GDP and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) remain as main indicators for a country’s economic health? Is there a strong co-relation between GDP and FDI and the increase of individual or household income? Furthermore, how could we distribute GDP and FDI growth for the well-being of all societies in the world?
Energy transition and renewable energy is the Intelligent Age were also discussed. WEF forecasts that the demand of energy from data centres will grow from 1% in 2022 to over 3% by 2030[vi]. Experts looked at ways that AI could reduce up to 60% of energy use by optimising energy storage, battery efficiency, and smart grid management[vii]. In the new era, energy optimisation will be important in navigating volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA).
Our race towards AI will widen the divide between developed and developing economies. According to the 2024 UNCTAD report, 44 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) face persistent low income, poor Human Asset Index (HAI) scores, and heightened economic and environmental vulnerabilities. Post-conflict states, particularly in the Middle East, continue to grapple with refugee crisis, economic stagnation, and governance challenges. Without targeted economic interventions, these vulnerabilities could exacerbate instability and conflict.
This raises a hypothetical question: if AI further divides countries, how can we usher in an Intelligent Age that has less conflict and more collaboration?
The theme of WEF 2025 helps us to understand the world we are entering. The next step is to implement the ideas discussed at Davos to create an economic spillover to challenged and underdeveloped countries.
[i] Dr. Wan Zokhri Idris is the interim manager of Rabdan Security and Defence Institute (RSDI), a think tank firm owned by the Abu Dhabi Government.
[ii] Statista (2025). The 20 countries with the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/268173/countries-with-the-largest-gross-domestic-product-gdp/#:~:text=In%202024%2C%20the%20United%20States,around%2018.5%20trillion%20U.S.%20dollars.
[iii] The World Bank Group, Unemployment, Total (% of total labour force), https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS
[iv] Relief Web, (2023). Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 – Unstacking Global Poverty: Data for high impact action, https://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-multidimensional-poverty-index-2023-unstacking-global-poverty-data-high-impact-action#:~:text=According%20to%20the%202023%20release,of%20every%20six%20poor%20people
[v] Reimagining growth, industries in the intelligent age, investing in people, safeguarding the planet, and rebuilding trust.
[vi] World Economic Forum (2025). AI’s Energy Dilemma: Challenges, Opportunities, and a Path Forward, https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/ai-energy-dilemma-challenges-opportunities-and-path-forward/
[vii] Ibid.
