Davos 2025 Day 1: Quiet Beginnings But Trump Lap At The End

The first day of this year's World Economic Forum was quiet relative to the past. It is unusual to see the promenade (main street of Davos) fairly empty. But it was. The Congress centre itself was relatively quiet. Part of the reason could also be that a lot of global leaders were in the US for Donald Trump's swearing in ceremony. And the Trump Presidency was the most spoken about topic at the WEF on Day 1, even more than AI. As the day ended, it became all about his comments, his initial announcements and the implications thereof.

The first day of this year's World Economic Forum was quiet relative to the past. It is unusual to see the promenade (main street of Davos) fairly empty. But it was. The Congress centre itself was relatively quiet. Part of the reason could also be that a lot of global leaders were in the US for Donald Trump's swearing in ceremony. And the Trump Presidency was the most spoken about topic at the WEF on Day 1, even more than AI. As the day ended, it became all about his comments, his initial announcements and the implications thereof.

Amidst all this though, there were some very promising conversations at the NDTV Network.

Dassault Systemes and Siemens spoke about the promise that India holds as a market, both for making in India for India, and making in India for the world. Siemens believes that the Indian market is so vast, that for the next few years, India will likely continue to remain a customer as opposed to a producer for the world for Siemens. But he did say that Siemens is looking to tap into the vast potential of Indian talent for breakthrough technologies.

Florence Verzelen of Dassault Systemes alluded to the India appeal by talking about yet another centre that they are opening up in India next year. She mentioned that they are working very closely with a lot of Indian companies to help create digital twins and expedite the process of correct manufacturing from the onset itself.

We also spoke to Indian CEOs like Dipali Goenka of Welspun, Priya Agarwal Hebbar of Vedanta Group, Nadir Godrej of the Godrej Group and Amit Kalyani of Bharat Forge to understand the spirits in the minds of the business world.

While Dipali Goenka is very optimistic of what India is doing, as is Priya Agarwal, Amit Kalyani of Bharat Forge did mention that the government needs to give some stimulus to kickstart growth, pending which the required job creation may be difficult to meet. He lamented the dole outs of freebies, as also the lack of animal spirits of growth in India currently.

Goenka did believe that the various opportunities in India hold good possibilities of growth for companies such as theirs. Priya Agarwal was very constructive on the demand for metals, particularly the new-age metals, which might be critical in various new age businesses.

Lastly, the conversation with Maria Vassalou of Pictet Research Institute on de-dollarisation and BRICS ascent, and India's neutral role within was interesting. Maria was of the opinion that while a lot is being said on the loss of the dollar dominance, the going will not be smooth, because nearly 40% of the world's investing and business community is invested in the strength of the dollar and hence it is not easy to see the dollar decline. Also, the US has the edge on the modern day technology that helps it stay ahead.

On India, Maria was appreciative of the work done by the government, but hoped for more steps in the whole process of ease of doing business and other policies.