16 Sep 09 - SpicaBooks.Com/Davos.html Davos Conference
	World Economic Forum Blair asks for 'global consensus'
	Davos Debates Role Of Anti-Corruption Groups in the Global Marketplace by Ayla Jean Yackley When Peter Eigen, president of Berlin-based Transparency International, spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the panel of international business leaders and elected officials commended him on the work of his anti-corruption watchdog - but insisted that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) like TI do not have an official role in democracy. The panel tackled the thorny issue of globalization and whether the pressures of an international economy were creating societies that are less than civil. Speakers included Bülent Ecevit, Turkey's prime minister; financier and philanthropist George Soros; Saxony's state premier Kurt Biedenkopf; Christine Todd Whitman, Republican governor of New Jersey; and Ronnie Chan, chairman of Hang Lung Development in Hong Kong. Eigen said he was dismayed that the speakers didn't address the role of organizations that operate outside of the public and private sectors. "There are a number of areas where the integrity of government has been corrupted," he said. "In these areas, civil society organizations should be invited to become strong and democratic themselves, to be partners with the government and the private sector to help shape a better world." Globalization allows for the corruption of public officials on a larger scale, Eigen said. "Transparency is one of the areas in which governments and the private sector have failed to create an acceptable international regime." Chan said TI, established in 1993, "was one of the very best, but that can't be said of the others." Biedenkopf went further: "If you take democracy seriously, there is a conflict. When NGOs demand the same legitimacy bestowed by constitutional arrangements, there has to be restraint." Whitman said NGOs that gain public support have become de facto political bodies that wield influence on the political process. "They are at the nexus between individual interests and common interests, and they can persuade the political leaders who are the ones who interact with international organizations. But I doubt they will determine international politics."
	Soros: IMF Should Not Help Russia January 30, 2000 - Davos, Switzerland (AP) - U.S. financier George Soros said Sunday that the International Monetary Fund should pull out of Russia in view of the current political climate there. Foreign institutions and investors "have lost the ability to influence the direction of events" in Russia, said Soros, chairman of the influential Soros Fund Management, during a news conference at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Soros pointed to the conflict in the breakaway republic of Chechnya as a worrying sign. With civilian deaths in Chechnya and hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting, Western countries have criticized the war, which is popular among Russians. "For 10 years...we had the ability to influence things in Russia and move them in the right direction and we flubbed it," said Soros, who as a philanthropist has spent more than $350 million on charitable projects in Russia during the past decade. With Russia now moving in the wrong direction, the IMF should pull out, he said. On Saturday, the IMF's second-ranking official said the fund may delay paying Russia the second $460 million installment of a $4.5 billion loan until after presidential elections in March. Stanley Fischer told reporters there is little evidence to suggest Moscow has made progress with some economic reforms crucial to approving the installment. The payment originally was due in September, but was delayed after the IMF imposed new conditions amid international concern about what happened to previous loans. The Russian government is counting on receiving four IMF installments of $460 million each in 2000 to help finance its budget. The IMF agreed to the loan program last July, releasing $640 million at the time. U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers urged the Russian government Sunday to rebuild its economy around the "rule of law," taking steps to combat corruption and revive confidence among both local and international investors. Summers met Sunday with Mikhail Kasyanov, Russia's finance minister. The two discussed economic conditions in Russia and - "in general terms" - Moscow's rocky relationship with the IMF, Summers said.
	Clinton: Don't Forget Small Nations January 29, 2000, by Anne Gearan, Davos, Switzerland (AP) - Reviving his global trade pitch, President Clinton lectured world leaders Saturday on the perils of excluding workers and poorer nations from a share of the wealth open markets can bring. "Don't leave the little guys out," he said. Before an audience of other presidents, prime ministers, politicians and 1,000 business leaders, Clinton gave a bullish endorsement of unfettered global trade and investment - as long as it recognizes concerns about workplace safety and a clean environment. But he also cautioned developing nations against relying solely on trade agreements to build their economies, saying their leaders have a responsibility to run their governments with openness and accountability. "There is a limit to what wealthy nations can do for people who will not take the necessary steps," he said. The Davos meeting is the first convening of world economic leaders since the near collapse of the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle two months ago. In addition to showcasing Seattle as a premier port, Clinton had hoped to use that meeting to foster a new round of trade talks. Instead, the meeting foundered amid chaotic street violence and demonstrations against the very themes of globalization that Clinton went to Seattle to push. Protests were also a presence in Davos. Outside the town's Congress Center, where Clinton spoke, police fired warning shots and tear gas in an attempt to control 500 anti-free trade protesters who defied a ban on demonstrations. The demonstrators - many clad in ski gear - marched up the main street of this ski resort, waving banners reading "Yankee Clinton go home." As he did in Seattle, Clinton told his wealthy, powerful audience to listen to their critics. He said he sympathizes with peaceful protests against the perceived harm that a rush toward interconnected trade and industry could visit on the environment, workers and the world's poor. He also said he disagreed with critics who say a new round of global trade talks should be postponed. Poor countries that have embraced open trade have seen their economies over the past couple of decades grow at a rate six times greater than those with closed borders, he said. "Too many of us live on the bare edge of survival without the means to move up," Clinton said. "Those who wish to roll back the forces of globalization because they fear its disruptive consequences, I believe, are plainly wrong." But he also rejected the arguments of economic purists "who view with contempt the new forces seeking to be heard." "Trade can no longer be the private province of politicians, CEOs and trade experts," Clinton told a standing-room-only crowd. "Don't leave the little guys out ... This is a new network. Trade must not be a race to the bottom, whether we're talking about child labor, basic working conditions or environmental protection." Clinton also took advantage of the confluence of world leaders here to talk peace with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and meet informally with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other leaders before flying back to Washington. Clinton's brief visit was the first by a U.S. president to the World Economic Forum, a gathering where business and political leaders can attend sessions on relaxation through yoga and the symphony orchestra as a metaphor for business management. His speech here was the starting point for what will likely be the last major trade fight of his presidency - trying to get Congress to vote permanent normal trade status with China and putting Beijing on a path to joining the WTO. "It's going to be a big fight. You can watch it with interest, and I hope with support," Clinton said. Some of the stiffest opposition in Congress comes from Clinton's fellow Democrats, who generally agree with union leaders that Chinese manufacturing poses a threat to U.S. workers.
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