World Economic Forum (WEF) President and CEO Borge Brende cautioned Tuesday that the world is facing its “most complex” geo-economic and geopolitical environment in decades, one which is having a heavily “impacting global growth.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing war in Europe between Russia and Ukraine, the intensifying trade rivalry between the U.S. and China, and the escalating tensions between Pakistan-India and Iran-Israel have jeopardized global stability.
Brende made the grim warning before the meeting of the multilateral forum in northern Chinese city Tianjin, commonly called the “Summer Davos.”
“It’s the most intricate geopolitical and geo-economic context we have in decades,” Brende said.
He added that an inability to restore economic growth could tragically mean “a decade of lower growth.”
The WEF Tianjin gathering will see officials such as Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong attend.
This meeting occurs against the background of rising global tensions, specifically the recent United States entry into the Iran-Israel conflict. United States President Donald Trump started a tariff war, and the world economy has been struggling for months with its fallout.
Brende explained to AFP that it was still too early to forecast the effect of Trump’s huge tariffs.
It is “too soon to say what these tariffs will lead to because the negotiations are still in progress”, he said.
“I believe the jury is still out, but the classical globalisation we witnessed is now transformed into a different system,” he said. “That is a new chapter. particularly because trade was the driver of growth.”
Brende also cautioned escalating conflict would have a “very negative effect” on world growth.
