Schwab: WEF to answer Trump’s call, create US jobs

Even the World Economic Forum is answering Donald Trump’s call to bring jobs back to the US. The organisation will host a special meeting in Washington this year to discuss issues raised during the Presidentelect’s campaign and the populist wave that swept him to victory, WEF founder Klaus Schwab said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg Television ahead of the forum’s 47th annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The US gathering also will explore how businesses can hire and invest more in the country.

“It’s very natural that with the new administration we plan a major event in the US to see what are the implications of the new president and how the business community could engage. We have to be responsive to the call,” Schwab, 78, said. The meeting will “address all those issues and see also what new investment opportunities exist, what job creation opportunities exist for our members in the United States.”

Trump has already persuaded companies from Ford Motor Co. to Sprint Corp. to bring jobs and factories back to the US from countries such as Mexico, and has demonstrated he can get chief executives to reverse course with a single tweet. The implications of his anti-establishment rhetoric and what his leadership style may entail promise to dominate discussions this week at Davos. As business leaders, heads of state and nonprofit groups prepare to gather in the exclusive ski resort high in the Alps on Tuesday, a sense of unease has emerged following a year of anti-establishment political shocks.