Davos 2024: Key Takeaways From Day 1 Of The WEF

Day 1 of the World Economic Forum seemed to be interesting in more ways than one. But that would be the case with the kind of business leaders that are here. Yes, the political presence has toned down over the years. While India is still well represented by ministers, the heads of state are not quite there. But the number of regulars I meet, who talk about the incredible opportunity to network here, is amazing. They swear by it, and I decided to take this opportunity as well.

While there was a heavy snowfall (no concerns of climate change this year versus the last), there is no fall in the optimism on India. You probably don't even need me to tell you that. The WEF President Borge Brende was all gung-ho on India, but you expect him to be so, especially when talking to an Indian channel maybe? His conversation with my colleague Vishnu Som was about the optimism that he hears on India from participants. India, however, has toned down her presence as the WEF. The state and company pavilions are still there. But it is not as loud as last year. Frankly, we don't need to be loud anymore. Indians here tell me that the country arrived some time back, and the world knows that. Credibly incredible?

We spoke to Ikea's Deputy CEO and CFO Juvencio Maetzu, who is betting on increasing the sourced manufacturing from India in a big way: make in India for India, and for the world. They are also opening multiple online spaces in India, with coming up in the National Capital Region in 2024-25.

PWC's Chairman Bob Moritz, and the consultant's Global CEO survey says that CEOs are more optimistic about global growth than they were a year ago. However, they are worried about many things: inflation is still the No. 1 risk, macroeconomic volatility and cyber risks come up next, followed by geopolitical conflicts. In the Indian context, Moritz's view was again that a horde of global clients want to set up shop in India and we probably shall see more of this in 2024 and 2025.

McKinsey's Noshir Kaka made an interesting point that the number of boards being set up and meeting in India, especially in 2023, is an indication of the heft that the country now commands. And when it comes to the numbers, especially investments, Rishi Kapoor of Investcorp, arguably one of the largest global investors out of the Middle East, believes that India will get flows not because of the China-plus-one factor, but because India on its own now demands and commands these flows. He suggests to stop bothering about another country's negatives leading to flows in India, because the India would draw investments flows independent of what happens to China.

The NDTV network has an exciting lineup of conversations on Day 2: Peter Voser of ABB; Gary Cohn of IBM; Rajiv Memani of EY; the think tanks of Jefferies and Deloitte and; and Union Minister Hardeep Puri and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Stay tuned for these and more.