Business Live: Davos Day Three: Ukraine Faces Critical Moment in 2024; UK’s Hunt to Promote Investment Opportunities
Introduction: 2024 wil be ‘moment of truth’ for Ukraine
Good morning from Davos, where world leaders, business chiefs and other members of the global elite continue to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.
We start with Ukraine this morning, as UK foreign secretary David Cameron is attending the annual Ukrainian Breakfast discussion here.
The topic: Stand With Ukraine?
The event, which is also being attended by Poland’s president Andrzej Duda, is hosted by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, and international investment advisory group EastOne.
Victor Pinchuk, the Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist, opens the event, warning that 2024 will be the “moment of truth” for Ukraine.
Pinchuk tells an audience of Davos delegates here that Ukraine’s international partners have provided a lot of support; Ukrainians are so grateful for this and we will never forget this, he says.
Bu, he warns, there is a difficult truth:
In war it does not matter if you did a lot. It matters only if you did enough.
Pinchuk says that without more support, Ukraine will have too little weapons to win.
Time is running out, he says, and we are at the critical point.
Pinchuk says 2022 was the year in which eveyone underestimated Ukraine. in 2023, everyone underestimated the aggressor. 2024 will be the moment of truth, he insists.
More to follow….
Also coming up today
UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt is also attending WEF today; he’ll be speaking on a panel about ‘technology in a turbulent world’.
The Treasury say Hunt will be championing British excellence in science and technology, and will “bang the drum on investment” into the UK.
Hunt says:
“I’ll be in Davos to tell the world that Britain, a nation of great innovation, is on the up and open for business.
“We boast some of the best and brightest businesses in sectors of the future like digital technology and life sciences. It’s these areas of strength that are going to drive growth across the UK economy in years to come.”
But, Hunt’s trip could be overshadowed by fears back home that Tata Steel will confirm plans to shut down much of its production at the Port Talbot steelworks during a crunch meeting with trade unions,
The Middle East conflict will also feature here in Davos, with Israel’s president Isaac Herzog and Iraq’s president Mohammed Shyaa Al Sudani both due to address delegates.
The agenda
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7.30am CET/6.30am BST: Ukrainian Breakfast discussion, including Poland’s president Andrzej Duda, and UK foreign secretary David Cameron.
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10am CET / 9am BST: A Conversation with Isaac Herzog, President of Israel
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10.30am CET / 9.30am BST: A Conversation With Mohammed Shyaa Al Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq
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11am CET / 10am GMT: Technology in a Turbulent World, with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce, Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture, Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer
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3pm CET / 2pm GMT: Russia: What Next? With European Commission’s Valdis Dombrovskis, Radoslaw Tomasz Sikorski, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminița-Teodora Odobescu, Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithunania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chris Miller, Associate Professor, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
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3pm CET: A Conversation with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
Key events
Next up…. a panel on Technology in a Turbulent World, which will look at the issue of artificial intelligence.
Jeremy Hunt, the UK chancellor, takes his seat, along with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce, Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture, and
Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer.
Israel president calls on international community to reject genocide claim
Israel’s president has told the World Economic Forum that it is “outrageous” that South Africa has brought a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, over its conduct in the Gaza war.
Isaac Herzog tells delegates here in Davos that South Africa “basically support the barbarism we have seen on October 7”, which he says includes supporting sexual and gender-based violence.
Herzog declares it is “a game of hypocrisy” that South Africa is using the convention against genocide, which was enacted following the Holocaust in the second world war, carried out against the Jewish people.
The state of Israel is defending itself within international law, he insists.
Herzog says he hopes Israel’s case will be heard “loud and clear”
And he calls on the international community to reject the genocide claim against Israel.
We are a peace loving nation, Herzog continues, saying Israelis are striving for peace
We care for our neighbours, but we are not prepared to be attacked, he adds.
Q: Once the Israel-Hamas war is over, how could a two state solution be reached?
President Herzog says Hamas has a jihadist ideology, and wants to eliminate Israel.
Israel may have been naive enough to think Hamas could change, he suggests.
He says Israelis have several questions, including: are they being offered real safety, what will it be, and will it actually guarantee safety for their people.
He adds that Israel’s lost faith in the peace process in the past, because they could see that terror is being glorified by our neighbours.
Herzog adds that normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia is the key to reaching an exit from the war, and moving into a new horizon.
On the issue of supplies into Gaza, Herzog says the international community has not sent the full 400 humanitarian trucks a day that Israel can screen.
[earlier this week, aid officials in Gaza warned that “pockets of famine” already exist in the territory, due to a lack of humanitarian supplies].
He is praying that medicine which are being sent into Gaza via the Qatari-French deal will reach the hostages.
President Herzog points out that the Houthis are raising the cost of living for everyone, through the attacks on vessels in the Red Sea that have forced ships to reroute.
Q: what is your message to Palestinians who don’t support Hamas?
President Herzog says he has been calling for peace with Israel’s neighbours for years.
But terror cannot be accepted; it has to be totally stopped and made out of the question.
He says people who support Hamas are supporting barbaric terror.
He then talks about the Hamas infrastructure found in shops, living rooms, bedrooms, and schools in Gaza.
We care, we care, it is painful for us that our neighbours are suffering so much.
But they are entrenched in a network of terror, which Israel is determined to remove.
He says he is not shying away from the human tragedy in Gaza, but Israel needs to defend itself from terror.
There is an “empire of evil” eminating from Tehran, Israel’s president Isaac Herzog warns Davos.
Billions of dollars are being spent to destabilise the stability of the world, he says, with Iran funding proxies all around the region, to undermine any peace process.
They must be faced by a very strong coalition, he adds.
Herzog also says he wants a better future for the Palestinians who are our neighbours.
But if you speak to Israeli citizens, he says, they cannot think about the peace agreement because everyone wants to know if they can be promised security.
Every Israeli wants to know they won’t be attacked from the north, south or east, Herzog says.
President Isaac Herzog begins by telling Davos delegates that Israel’s world was shattered on 7 October by the Hamas attacks.
He explains Israeli’s suffered atrocities including rapes, the chopping of heads, the burning of families.
And he cites the example of Kfir Bibas, who turns 1 in Hamas captivity today after he, his four-year-old brother Ariel and parents Yarden and Shiri Bibas were taken hostage.
Herzog says he calls on those at Davos, and indeed the “entire universe” to work endlessly to release all the hostages who are still held.
The oldest hostage is 85 year old, he adds, and many are people of peace.
Next up, Israel’s president Isaac Herzog has arrived on stage for a conversation
WEF’s founder Klaus Schwab welcomes him, pointing out that this is a very critical time for Israel and the Middle East, and credits Herzog with delivering “positive change for your country”.
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