Industries Minister M.B. Patil meeting with senior Nokia officials at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
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In this image posted on Jan. 20, 2026, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis meets Head of Urban Transformation and Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum, Jeff Merritt on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, in Zurich, Switzerland. Photo: @Dev_Fadnavis/X via PTI Photo

More than 57% cited financial concerns among their biggest sources of stress or anxiety. Image for representation only.
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Attendees listen to a virtual speech delivered by U.S. president Donald Trump, at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Donald Trump used an address on Thursday (January 23, 2025) to the World Economic Forum to promise global elites lower taxes if they bring manufacturing to the U.S. and threatened to impose tariffs if they don’t.

Speaking by video from the White House to the annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, on his third full day in office, President Trump ran through his flurry of executive actions since his swearing-in and claimed that he had a “massive mandate” from the American people to bring change. He laid out a carrot-and-stick approach for private investment in the U.S.

“Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes as any nation on earth,” President Trump said. “But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff — differing amounts — but a tariff, which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt under the Trump administration.”

President Trump, who spoke on Wednesday to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, also said Thursday that the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the U.S. but that he would ask Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to increase it to $1 trillion. The remark drew some laughter from the crowd in the hall in Davos.

Introducing President Trump, Davos founder Klaus Schwab told the new president that his return and his agenda have “been at the focus of our discussions this week.” He invited President Trump to speak at the summit in person next year.

President Trump, who promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war before taking office, said it remained a top priority, but he offered few clues for how he would do so.

“One thing very important: I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon and get that war ended,” President Trump told the Davos audience. “We really have to stop that war. That war is horrible”

Earlier in his address to the forum, President Trump laid blame on the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries for keeping the price of oil too high for much of the nearly three-year war. Oil sales are the economic engine driving Moscow’s economy.

“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” President Trump said. He added about OPEC+, “They are very responsible to a certain extent for what’s taking place.”

Oil prices have more recently slumped due to weaker-than-expected demand from China as well as increased production from countries such as Brazil and Argentina that aren’t in OPEC+.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw during a meeting with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) delegation, in Switzerland on January 22, 2025. Photo: PTI via @AshwiniVaishnaw/X

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw took part in a series of strategic meetings in Switzerland, underscoring India’s commitment to fostering international collaboration and embracing innovative technologies in the railway sector. He also made a presentation on the Indian semiconductor ecosystem.

Before heading for the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025 in Davos, Mr. Vaishnaw on Tuesday held several meetings. He said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always guided us to benchmark our efforts to the global bests. Today’s visit is also in this direction. There is a lot of interest around the world in ‘Made in India’ products.”

World Economic Forum 2025 Day 3 LIVE Updates

A presentation showcasing the latest advancements in infrastructure diagnostics was held by the Swiss Federal Railways. Mr. Vaishnaw engaged with Swiss experts to understand the technologies that can bolster operational efficiency and safety within the Indian Railways system. It was followed by a meeting with leading railway sector small and medium enterprises, including Rhomberg Sersa Ag, Selectron, Ucentrics, Autech, and nu Glass.

Another key meeting was with Stadler Rail Management and a visit to their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in St. Margrethen. Stadler Rail’s expertise is in producing double-decker multiple-unit trains. Mr. Vaishnaw also attended the opening dinner hosted by the board of trustees of WEF.

Semiconductor push

On Wednesday, the Union Minister made a presentation on the Indian semiconductor ecosystem to Arvind Krishna, an Indian-American business executive and the chairman and chief executive officer of IBM.

At the event, Andhra Pradesh, under the theme of Business with Speed and Innovation, is presenting its 1,054-km-long coastline, business-friendly policies, and seven airports as USPs to global investors. Andhra Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will engage with top executives from global giants such as Unilever, DP World Group, Petroleum National Berhad (Petronas), Google Cloud, PepsiCo, and AstraZeneca.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was also present at Davos. “Telangana means business. We are promoting sectors like electric vehicles, semiconductors, pharma, and infrastructure,” he said. Global companies “really want to involve themselves” with India, which is the third-largest domestic market in the world, added Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, stating that “they are aware of the Viksit Bharat vision we have envisaged under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where we want to become the number 1 player.”

“As a global leader and a unifying voice of the Global South, India continues to embody the ethos of unity and collective progress…India remains a key architect of a sustainable and inclusive global future,” said a government official.

India Pavilion

At Davos, the India Pavilion features eight states, each seeking investment opportunities from executives of companies worldwide. Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and West Bengal are the states that have established a presence.

This year, meetings are being held under five sub-themes: Reimagining Growth, Industries in the Intelligent Age, Investing in People, Safeguarding the Planet, and Rebuilding Trust. Over 350 governmental leaders are expected to participate this year, including 60 heads of state and government.

India has sent its largest-ever delegation to the WEF’s Annual Meeting, comprising five union ministers and three chief ministers. Nearly 100 chief executive officers and leaders from government, civil society, and the arts are also participating. Union Ministers Jayant Chaudhary and Chirag Paswan will also be there. Among the prominent faces are Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis; and Tamil Nadu Minister for Industries, Investment Promotions, and Commerce in the Government of Tamil Nadu since 2023, Dr. T. R. B. Rajaa.

At the Indian section, Promenade 67 features UP, Telangana, and Kerala pavilions. Promenade 73 features Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh pavilions.

The major sectors in which India is seeking investment include ports and logistics, IT & electronics, aerospace & defence, automobile and EV, textile & apparel, renewable energy, agriculture & food processing, and biotech and pharmaceuticals.

New Delhi:

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, can “fundamentally transform governance”, Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh told NDTV Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland’s Davos.

Mr Lokesh also played down fears the (inevitable) advance of AI, and machine learning, will rob millions of their jobs. Instead, the “order of jobs” will be changed, he said, adding, “… I believe that over the next decade jobs are going to be created in areas that we are yet to discover.”

“Jobs under threat are typically white-collar jobs (but) I think every industrial revolution has shown that it (eventually) creates more jobs… history shows us that. So, I don’t believe AI will reduce jobs.”

AI – and its possible impact on jobs – has been a hot button topic at Davos this year, particularly for a country like India, which is primarily agrarian and already faces worrying levels of unemployment.

On Tuesday Gita Gopinath, the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, told NDTV an estimated 26 per cent of the country’s total workforce may be “exposed” to AI platforms.

The message, however, wasn’t all doom and gloom. She indicated yesterday, as Mr Lokesh said today, that 14 per cent of those jobs will benefit and the rest would face a “displacement effect”.

READ | “26% Of India’s Jobs Exposed To AI, But…”: Gita Gopinath At Davos

And those comments seemed to agree with what Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, said at the NDTV World Summit in October last year; he acknowledged the advance of AI as “inevitable”, but argued it would bring in “new kinds of jobs… new scales of jobs”.

READ | “AI Inevitable, Will Bring New Kinds Of Jobs”: Amitabh Kant To NDTV

With that idea – that AI can create various kinds of jobs – Mr Lokesh gave NDTV insights into how Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s government is harnessing the power of tech.

“I think AI can transform governance at a fundamental level. One example of what we’re doing is education and to help students go from being a passive to an active learner. We’re doing this project… a 45-minute class is followed by a two-minute video with five questions at the end.”

“And, based on the answers, we’re using AI to prescribe homework.”

Mr Lokesh also spoke about other examples, such as using AI – in collaboration with companies like Meta and Google – to identify beneficiaries for welfare schemes and to deliver those services.

“I think the government’s role is to create use-cases (for AI) that can then be scaled up,” he said, adding that the Andhra Pradesh government is particularly interested in exposing women, students, and farmers to AI to help them double their incomes, in certain cases, and transform their lives.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship during the ceremony for the Crystal Awards at the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland.
| Photo Credit: AP

The World Economic Forum on Tuesday (January 21, 2025) announced Schwab Foundation Awards for 18 social entrepreneurs and innovators from 15 organisations across 13 countries, including India.

Announcing the awards during the annual meeting here, the WEF said it kicks off a three-year journey to empower recipients, who have joined a global community of nearly 500 individuals whose work is impacting 931 million lives.

The awards are given by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the Motsepe Foundation.

The 18 leaders from 15 organisations are values-driven entrepreneurs pioneering transformative business, social development and environmental models that are helping build a more equitable and sustainable world, it said.

Awardees in the social entrepreneurs category included Akshay Saxena, Co-Founder of Avanti Fellows, a non-profit that aims to provide equitable access to India’s top science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) colleges.

Vineet Singal, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CareMessage, has also been given the award in this category. His organisation is a US-based technology non-profit building the largest patient engagement platform for low-income populations in the US.

In the Collective Social Innovators category, the award recipients are people who bring together organisations to solve complex problems that cannot be tackled by individual actors.

These include Ved Arya, Director of the Buddha Institute and National Convener of the Responsible Coalition for Resilient Communities (RCRC), a collective of 98 grassroots civil society organisations across 15 states in India that formed during the Covid-19 pandemic due to its disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities.

Arya’s fellow RCRC leaders and 2025 Schwab Foundation Awardees include Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India, and Apoorva Oza, Global Lead for Agriculture and Climate at non-profit the Aga Khan Foundation.

India Pavilion at World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference 2025 in Davos, Switzerland was inaugurated by Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary and others.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement

India Pavilion at World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, was inaugurated by Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary along with Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Telangana IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu and Kerala Industries Minister P. Rajeeve. 

They have formally declared open the Telangana Pavilion too. This was followed by a discussion on various projects where Telangana could set an example for India, as per official communication which added that the two union ministers also promised maximum support for various State initiatives in skills development and food processing.

Davos, Switzerland:

Donald Trump is not stepping foot in Davos this week but the head of the World Economic Forum says the new president has brought renewed interest in the annual gathering of business and political leaders.

“It’s true that everyone here is very interested to understand more what Trump 2.0 is all about,” WEF President Borge Brende told AFP in an interview.

Trump is casting a long shadow over the Swiss Alpine resort, where corporate and political leaders will debate his policies on conflicts, trade, taxes, immigration and climate change, to name a few.

Participants will seek to “connect the dots and decipher” Trump’s intentions, Brende said.

While the WEF had to compete for attention with Trump’s inauguration on Monday, it will get to hear from the man himself via video link on Thursday, with CEOs able to directly ask him questions.

“I think (Trump’s inauguration) has increased the interest in Davos because people feel they need to come together to better understand what’s on its way,” the former Norwegian foreign minister said.

Members of the Trump administration are expected to attend the WEF later in the week, but names have yet to be confirmed.

“We will also have a clear American footprint here in Davos,” Brende said.

US captains of industry are among the many CEOs who flock to Davos every year, but the WEF hopes that it will get a visit one day from the world’s richest man — Trump backer and Tesla chief Elon Musk, who once derided the gathering as “boring”.

“Elon Musk is more than welcome this year and also next year. And next year, maybe he can come with Mr Trump,” Brende said.

World Economic Forum founder steps back

This year’s meeting also comes at a crossroads for the WEF as its 86-year-old German-born founder, Klaus Schwab, stepped back from the executive leadership of the organisation.

Brende took over the executive functions.

“We are now more like a French company where you have a chairperson that is non-executive and then you have a CEO president who is in charge of the executive part of it,” Brende said.

The WEF also last year battled accusations of a “toxic workplace” that were reported by The Wall Street Journal, with allegations of discrimination against women and black people.

“We didn’t feel that that was reflecting the organisation we are at all,” Brende said.

“But we are also a very serious organisation, so we said that no organisation is perfect” and established an independent panel led by the head of French insurer AXA, Thomas Buberl, he said.

Buberl and other businesspeople on the committee are working with law firms “looking into the assertions that were made” and they will “come up with recommendations that we will follow”, Brende said.

“We take it seriously, we didn’t recognise ourselves in that article,” the WEF president said.

“For us, our talent, our people at the forum is the core of the organisation. We want to be a world-class organisation also when it comes to dealing with our people.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Armed conflict is the top risk in 2025, a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey released last week showed, a reminder of the deepening global fragmentation as government and business leaders attend an annual gathering in Davos.

Nearly one in four of the more than 900 experts surveyed across academia, business and policymaking ranked conflict, including wars and terrorism, as the most severe risk to economic growth for the year ahead.

Extreme weather, the no. 1 concern in 2024, was the second-ranked danger.

“In a world marked by deepening divides and cascading risks, global leaders have a choice: to foster collaboration and resilience, or face compounding instability,” WEF Managing Director Mirek Dusek said in a statement accompanying the report.

“The stakes have never been higher.”

-Reuters