2012 World Economic Forum Meeting: Young leaders to shape global agenda

The World Economic Forum (WEF) says a group of 70 exceptional individuals under the age of 30 will be engaging with world leaders and shaping the agenda at its Annual Meeting 2012, taking place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, January 25-29, 2012.

In a press statement copied to ghanabusinessnews.com January 13, 2012, the WEF said the group – Global Shapers, “will consider pressing issues, including the global youth unemployment crisis and the role of business in society” all under the year’s theme “The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models”.

The Shapers come from 44 city-based “hubs” established by the Forum in 36 countries, including China, Egypt, India, Israel, Mexico, the Palestinian Territories, Russia, Switzerland and the USA.

The statement said the community has an average age of 27 and its representation at the Annual Meeting will include 20 chief executive officers, a 24-year-old mayor from the Philippines, a bioengineer who created a cardiac surgery simulator used by over 3,000 surgeons worldwide, and a professor of nanotechnology from Zurich.

“Once, the best indication of success was an individual’s past experience. Now, with the world as interconnected as it is, we find the old models are no longer working and we need fresh approaches to solving the world’s most pressing problems,” the statement quoted Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the WEF as saying.

“Young people don’t need today’s leaders to empower them. They are already empowered through their passion, ideas and access to information and technology. That’s true whether they live in Berlin, Bamako or Ulaanbaatar,” says David Aikman, Head of the Global Shapers Community at the WEF.

By Ekow Quandzie