This year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum was held in Davos, Switzerland, for about a week from Jan. 22. The theme of Davos 2018 was "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World." The meeting, attended by about 3,000 world economic leaders, is closely watched every year. The latest meeting attracted particular attention for the appearance of U.S. President Donald Trump and the attendance of heads of states from 70 countries around the world. The Davos conference this year also left several important lessons to Japan.
The first is that no time should be wasted in reforming Diet proceedings to boost Japan's presence in the world. The prime ministers and presidents of six of the Group of Seven countries attended this year's meeting — except for Japan. The Davos conference is, so to speak, what an investor relations event is for a business enterprise. It offers each country a prime opportunity to exhibit its presence and gain attention.
Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping became that country's first head of state to attend the conference and demonstrated his presence. At this year's meeting, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the podium in the opening ceremony, and his government set up an Indian pavilion outside the venue to grab participants' attention in the early part of the conference.