Prof Klaus Schwab calls for 'Globalisation 4.0' at World Government Summit

Governments around the world are at a crossroads, where the road ahead is uncertain and the risks around them continue to grow.

This was the message that Prof Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum, kicked off the 7th World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai today.

Modelled similar to the World Economic Forum in Davos, each year the Summit invites global thought leaders, diplomats, heads of state and businessmen to help find solutions to ‘shape the future of the world’.

At the opening address, Schwab called for “Globalism 4.0” to address the rapidly complicating landscape presented by the fourth industrial revolution, “as well as populism and a world that is requiring multiconceptual thinking.”

Referring to the post-cold war period of global growth as globalism 3.0, Schwab said the period had lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty but “left winners and losers”

“Globalism can’t keep delivering winners and losers. Those left out want to be let back in, they won’t tolerate anything else,” he said.

"Technology hasn’t solved utmost risks like data ownership and we still can’t tell if AI will be positive or negative.

"Meanwhile, mother nature is losing patience with us... We have 12 years to go before the changes in climate, ecology and biodiversity become irreversible,” he added.

Schwab called on global governments to move “away from crisis management” toward “leadership in partnership.”

Calling it Globalisation 4.0, Schwab said the world needed a model built on “sustainability, inclusivity, not led by just governments but by all stakeholders of society including women, young, NGOs and businesses and where we don’t tolerate gray areas such as corruption.”

Schwab said governments often lagged behind in delivering on their promises but that he was “always comforted when coming home from the UAE because it provides a vision for the future,” he said, adding that the WGS would help create “awareness of depths of change governments need to exercise.”

The WGS is being held in Dubai until February 12 and will see keynote addresses from the chair of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, celebrity life coach and business consultant Tony Robbins, and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.