Global Economic Crisis: Factors and Prospects for Recovery: Feedback from the World Economic Forum  Presentation to the International Road Transport Union  Geneva | 3 April, 2009

2 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009  Highlights from Davos  Presentation of the Global Competitiveness Network  The Global Competitiveness Index  The Global Enabling Trade Index  The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index Outline

3 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 The World Economic Forum Membership  At the heart of all activities are the Forum’s 1000 member companies.  Forum members are companies that are driving the world economy forward or: –Rank among the top companies within their industry and/or country –Play a leading role in shaping the future of their industry and/or region

4 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Annual Meeting 2009 in Davos-Klosters  Quick facts: –Over 2500 participants from all groups in society: businesses, public sector, IOs, NGOs, Labour and Religious Leaders… –Over 40 heads of state –5 days, over 250 sessions on topics of importance to the global agenda, such as: Dealing with Deforestation Is There a Solution for the Middle East?Is There a Solution for the Middle East? The Global Economic Outlook

5 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Annual Meeting 2009, Davos-Klosters Objectives  Throughout the five days of the Annual Meeting participants worked on a number of objectives: –Supporting governments and governance institutions, particularly the G20 –Ensuring that global challenges are examined in a holistic way, including climate change and water security –Beginning a process to develop recommendations on how the structure and strategies of international cooperation can be updated –Improving the ethical basis for business as a constructive social actor –Restoring confidence in the future

6 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Highlights of Discussions Potential impacts of the crisis:  US consumer will not resume anytime soon.  There will be an economic contraction (recession) in the developed countries and a slowdown (positive growth rates) in emerging markets. (John Lipsky) Credit crunch will affect the emerging markets relatively more, there are currently signs that capital is starting to flow back from emerging markets to developed economies. (Joseph Stiglitz) 

7 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Highlights of Discussions Potential impacts of the crisis (ctd):  Mounting concerns about job security and lay-offs will impact consumption.  There is a real danger of a social backlash in emerging and developing countries that could lead to social unrest and political instability.  There are signs of emerging protectionism

8 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Highlights of Discussions Potential impacts of the crisis (ctd):  Countercyclical financing will be more difficult for developing countries.  In many developing countries, the crisis will affect primarily women who will lose jobs, but stimulus packages are directed at men. (Mari Pangestu)

9 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Global Competitiveness Network  Flagship product: Global Competitiveness Report, first launched in 1979 covering 16 countries; the Report has since expanded its coverage to 134 countries.  Co-editors: Professors Klaus Schwab and Michael Porter  Our goal: to provide a benchmarking tool for policymakers and business leaders

10 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Global Competitiveness Network Regional, topical and industry reports:  Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009  Global Information Technology Report  Global Enabling Trade Report 2009 (forthcoming)  Financial Development Report 2009 (forthcoming)  Lisbon Review 2008  Africa Competitiveness Report 2009 (forthcoming)  Brazil Competitiveness Report (forthcoming)

11 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 The Global Competitiveness Report What are we trying to measure?  GDP per capita (PPP in international dollars)

12 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 The Global Competitiveness Report  The most comprehensive data set on competitiveness  Assesses the comparative strengths and weakness of a large number of economies  Produced in collaboration with leading academics worldwide and a global network of partner (research) institutes

13 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009  Use of “hard data” (publicly available information) and survey data (from the Executive Opinion Survey)  The Survey records the perspectives of business leaders around the world; Survey data is indispensable, it gathers valuable information on a broad range of variables for which hard data sources are scare or nonexistent. The Global Competitiveness Report Data sources

14 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 The Global Competitiveness Report Country coverage

15 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009  How we do not define competitiveness: “a country’s share of the world market for its products”  This view implies a zero-sum game - one country’s gain comes at the expense of others  How we do define competitiveness: “the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.”  The level of productivity, in turn, sets the sustainable level of prosperity that can be earned by an economy. The Global Competitiveness Index Definition

16 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Global Competitiveness Index The Framework Key for efficiency-driven economies Key for factor-driven economies 1. Institutions 2. Infrastructure 3. Macroeconomic stability 4. Health and primary education 5. Higher education and training 6. Goods market efficiency 7. Labor market efficiency 8. Financial market sophistication 9. Technological Readiness 10. Market size 11. Business sophistication 12. Innovation Key for innovation-driven economies BASIC REQUIREMENTS EFFICIENCY ENHANCERS INNOVATION & SOPHISTICATIONS FACTORS

17 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Global Competitiveness Index Top 20 and selected economies

18 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Executive Opinion Survey Quality of roads data Top 20Bottom 20

19 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 The Enabling Trade Index Definition The Enabling Trade Index measures: “The factors, policies and services facilitating the free flow of goods over national borders, and to destination”

20 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Index structure

21 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 The T&T Competitiveness Report Definition The T&T Competitiveness Index measures: “The factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the T&T sector in different countries”

22 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 The T&T Competitiveness Index Structure

23 The World Economic Forum: Benchmarking Geneva|3 April, 2009 Thank you for your attention. For more information about the World Economic Forum, our benchmarking reports and the Annual Meeting 2009, please visit: