 Felly wnaeth y gallu melyniadau fedriol ei chyrd am y ddechrau, sieblyniadur 7 oma i'r mewnsgwybwyll. Mae'n cŷghwch â'r Ysgrifedd Siwr Ysgrifhold gyda Byllun gynhyrchu... ...nydd y llei sy'n fawr yn y llysg isniell... ...cymdeithas, y gyrdigol ar y dyfodol y bydd mor gael yn ymlaen... ...y'r pethoedd yn cysylltu'r unitseth... ...y'n gwneud yng Ngheilwch Gun ymgwyll ymgwyll yn y ddefnyddur ymgwyll. I'm not going to attempt to explain it, I'm going to allow my colleagues to do that, so without further ado and mindful of time I will introduce our panel here. To my immediate left I have my colleague Mr Espin, but I'm the managing director, member of the managing board of the World Economic Forum. Next to Espin is Robin Nibilet, director, Chatham House in the UK and a member of the Global Agenda Council on Europe. After Robin we have Yaqui Silias, the executive director of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa. And last but not least I'm honoured to be joined by Alicia Barstena-Hebara, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. And a member of the Global Agenda Council on Latin America. So I'm going to ask Espin to start off by offering a brief overview of the community and what its ambitions and objectives are. Thank you very much Ali. We're very pleased to launch officially this new community which is brand new in the World Economic Forum. I'll just give you a small piece of background. We are of course organised through members, but we also have a number of communities and networks that we develop over time in order to help us to drive the global agenda and to understand what's going on on the global level. And some years ago we set up something called the Global University Leaders Forum which is roughly the leaders of the 25 leading universities in the world and they have been a very important resource for us. Building on that success we decided that we wanted to develop a similar format for the leading think tanks of the world. The institutions that are in a more applied practical way trying to understand the intersection between analysis and policy in areas of like the geopolitics or global political developments or regional geoeconomics, the global economic development and also national and international social trends. And it's a major focus for us to understand how these issues are linked. It's not enough to deep dive into the global economy as such or global politics as such. We really want to use this community to build bridges and to look across different disciplines and to see how that can help the World Economic Forum to be even more of a forward looking thought leader for the members and the partners and the countries and the organisations that we work closely with. The think tank leaders forum community will consist of 25 institutions at leader level. We only allow the top leader of the think tank to be a member. We will of course eventually also have some guests visiting but the community will consist of the leaders of the think tanks that we have selected. They represent the whole planet. They are the think tanks from all parts of the world and we will still be working on potential further members but we have a list already of the existing members and they have been meeting here and had a successful inaugural round of meetings in order to discuss what they can do together. Because obviously many of these know each other anyway but we are bringing them to link together in a way that we think is helpful for them and which we know will be helpful for us. Let me just briefly outline a couple of the ideas that they have decided to focus on and you will see that they are topics that are also high on the general agenda of the global of the World Economic Forum. They are six. Number one is the continued existence and the growing importance of income inequality in the world. Secondly, persistent jobless growth. Third, rising nationalism or sectarianism in different parts of the world. Four, rising geo-strategic competition. That means that we are seeing a new level of competition between key players. We see it in this region, we see it in East Asia, we see it in Europe over the Ukraine crisis. Fifth, the trend towards a weakening of representative democracy. And sixth and last, the lack of global leadership or the erosion rather of global leadership. These are all trends that this group see developing and we want to address how they are linked. For instance, is persistent jobless growth and rising inequality linked to rising nationalism and rising sectarianism. Is rising geo-strategic competition, is that a cause of or an effect of the lack of global leadership? And all these relationships will be developed by this community of thought leaders. So that's basically what's going to happen now. We're happy to see this community develop inside the ecosystem of the World Economic Forum and I think I will leave it at that and then allow for the members to take it from there. Thank you and I will just add, thank you Espen. I just add we do have unfortunately a hard finish here at 10.55. So we will have time for questions. So I'd invite our next panelist, Robin Nible, at you are the head of the think tank. Give us your opinion on this formation of the community. Well thank you very much for this opportunity and also for the opportunity to be part of this group. Let's say very few comments very quickly. Number one, I think the value of the community is that we as think tanks are part of a growing community internationally. It's interesting that not just in the West which has tended to pioneer the concept of think tanks that exist in parallel to governments and that help communicate and interlink governments and other actors in society, media, the private sector, civil society, academics, part of the role of think tanks is to act as that intermediator between those involved in the policy world and those outside it. The demand for that facility, for that activity seems to be growing all over the world and you can see. Okay we'll wait to fix it, I think Robin if you just continue. We'll try to solve this problem. Is it this microphone or you can hear me here can't you? The microphone is working. Can you hear me? You can hear me. Okay they can hear me. So saying first of all that the value is that right now the think tanks appear to be growing around the world, have been created in countries around the world where they did not exist before. Why? Because ultimately the management of policy is increasingly not just in the hand of governments. Whether it's civil society, whether it's companies, whether it is experts, whether it is a global dialogue that comes from outside the country, into the country, governments are not in charge in the way they were before. And think tanks have traditionally sat at this intersection between governments and the non-governmental sector and provide a trusted space, a neutral space in some cases for debates to happen about policy in the longer term beyond generally the horizon that governments have to focus on. I think it's very interesting that as this is happening the World Economic Forum would use its role as one of the main conveners globally of people from all over the world and this global agenda summit which brings think tanks as well as other communities from all over the world together to try and get us think tank heads as well to meet up, which we don't always do collectively. We live very much in our own ecosystems and our own countries. Second point where I think the value comes from is that, as I said, the role of think tanks is to be able to look over the horizon, to look a little bit further than governments tend to look. And right now the things that we look at over the horizon are not just inside our countries but very much beyond them. These are international topics from, as you said, rising geopolitical competition where we're all experiencing that right now. All countries are experiencing a decay in the solidity and strength of their national political systems including in Europe and all countries are being challenged by the greater competition for resources around the world. So what we're discovering is that each of our nations within which think tanks tend to exist are sharing similar problems and this will give us a chance to compare notes what do we think the big topics are in the future, can we match them, can we work on them together if needs be. So I see this as being a very valuable exercise. Thank you. Thank you very much. Jaki, your views please. Thank you very much. My name is Jaki Silia. I'm the Executive Director of the Institute for Security Studies. We're a regional African based organisation. And I think the importance of what is being launched is the fact that this crosses the divides. The world is increasingly multipolar. Leadership seems to be absent. But in my view it's largely a function of the changing power dynamics that we see. People say there's a lack of leadership but it is much more difficult to lead in a multipolar world where power is diffused. And there are very important differences between how we see the world from London, from Brussels, from Washington, from New York. As we would see it from Africa, from Pretoria, where I am based, or indeed from our offices, Narasababa, Nairobi or Dakar. We see globally a rise in so-called the importance of non-state actors. Non-state actors are not only terrorist organisations and insurgent groups, but they are also in actual fact labour unions, civil society, legitimate actors that occupy a space, a legitimate space. Now whereas in Africa we would argue that we face a large governance deficit and a democratic deficit in certain parts, as is the case in the Middle East, in the developed world the situation is quite different. Where we see a post-west failure in state emerging which is very, very different. So to bridge these divides I think is very important. Our role as Robin indicated is to try and provide evidence-based policy. We don't represent any particular constituency. We hope that we represent research and objective facts. Of course, objectivity lies in the eye of the beholder, but we hope that we can add to that debate. So I think it's very, very useful, Espin. I think it's necessary. It adds to the complementarity globally and to the role of the World Economic Forum as a thought leader in this respect. So thank you very much for the initiative. Okay, Ms Bertina Ebarra is the head of an organisation. How will you draw upon this community and how can they add to your efforts to solve the challenges in your region? Well, thank you very much for the invitation. I want to say that I come from... My institution is located in Santiago de Chile, which is South America actually, and we have offices in Mexico and in the Caribbean, and it's very important for us as a region. We are a think tank which is focusing on public policies basically, but we are also questioning today what is the new equation that is needed in our societies between the market, the state as a whole, and the civil society. Previously there was like a single model. It was a market-oriented approaches that were prevailing in the region, but now we find that our region has a very diverse way of organising itself. Each society is selecting the way they want to, in a certain way, organise their model of development, actually. So we believe that this network of think tanks is going to be extremely important. In our region, for example, number one, the employment. Low productivity, low salaries, you know? And the thing of the growth, we are not growing that much. So again, we think we can bring some ideas and experiences of what's happening in our society that can bring about knowledge on the global networks. But things that we are thinking from the South, let's put it this way, is not what the North is thinking about us, but how we are constructing our own modelling, our own thinking, and we can bring that experience to the World Economic Forum. We believe that the world is changing. The South is not the same. They are shifting powers all over the world. So we are emerging in a way as middle-income economies with many problems. And just finally, I would like to say that we believe that in our case, for example, the lack of leadership, for example, in the case of the United States, which was one of the cases we were discussing yesterday, was the role of the US. Well, for Latin America, this is crucial. I mean, either we are ignored or we are part of their priorities, and this is extremely important for us. And finally, the role of the citizen security. Our region apparently is a very peaceful region. You don't hear a lot about it, except that we have very fragile democracies right now. Trust between people and governments is very fragile. You can see what's going on in Mexico, what's going on in Central America. Illicit crime is coming all over the place. Corruption, the lack of institutions. So these are things that we have to bring to the equation. So I'm very grateful to be part of this network, and I think it's going to be extremely useful both ways. One, to hear what's happening globally, and the other thing is to have our voice from the South being heard in this global scenario. Thank you very much indeed. I want to have some type of questions. A quick show of hands, please, so we can see a gentleman here, a lady there on the third road. Were you looking for asking a question? A microphone's coming. No. Okay, a gentleman here in the front row. So a gentleman here, can we get the microphone? Abdullah Bouhagag from the Sultanate of Oman. Abdullah Bouhagag from the Sultanate of Oman. I have the pleasure to listen to this international awareness about the transformations and changes that are taking place in the world right now. Honestly, I would like to speak about the value of this network. I think that this value can bridge the gap between the economy and the policies. This is the first time that I attend the World Economics Forum and the summit on the global agenda, and I have realized that this summit focuses on the consequences and not the root causes of these consequences. Therefore, we have faced many dilemmas and paradoxes. I think that this maybe network can contribute to bridging the gap. I think that the main cause is the lack of legitimacy of the leadership at the national level. Today we are witnessing a rising inequality in revenues. I think that this is due to the lack of the political role in what concerns the United Nations. I think that the United Nations today is incapable or incapable of contributing positively in the leadership of the international community. This is why I think that this network is important. The summit is important because it focuses on the policies that usually lead to the economic consequences, which are the main focus of the summit on the global agenda. I think that this network is very important. I think that it should have been established beforehand. I think that it comes late. Why? Because there are many reasons behind that. If we had this network before and you agreed all on that, you said during previous meetings that the Middle East is witnessing a transitional period. During this transitional period many regimes collapsed and many others survived. If we had this network, maybe, we could have had a better brainstorming that can contribute to a certain orientation that allows the survival of regimes and that allows the development of societies. The international community is not present, is absent in these societies. I think the question was why was this network not formed earlier. Would anybody like to comment very briefly, mindful of time on the timeliness and maybe perhaps zeroing in on lack of leadership, which I think is the main comment here? To my knowledge, the network was not created earlier because the World Economic Forum didn't invite us to be created earlier. But the issue, I think very importantly, of root causes. Inevitably, when we get together at gatherings like this, the pressure often is to deal with the crisis of the day. I think the value of this network is, as you said, it does give us two, three days to compare notes on the root causes of the problems. So I agree with the value from that point of view. I would say legitimacy. I agree is a hugely important topic. What's interesting is in each of our regions, the loss of legitimacy of political leaders is at the heart of the difficulty of achieving solutions. And if maybe the think tank community can help bring together political leaders who are losing legitimacy with some of the other communities that can perhaps help translate the answers, then that would be a valuable contribution by this community. Anyone else? Okay, sorry. Let's just do one very quick question. Jen's been at the back. He had your hand up. Can you give us your name as well and tell us where you're from? Mr Beish from Council News. My question is that how would you breach the gap as far as the government goes? I'm sure that you'll be coming out with strategies understanding the root cause and giving solutions. So how would you breach the gap, that particular gap with the government? So what are the modernities in this case? Okay, so specifics on bridging that gap between yourself and governance. I think the world is a more crowded and messy space, and we all struggle for policy traction. So there's no easy response to the question that you ask. I think today think tanks and civil society struggle for space. Many of us adopt various strategies in terms of presenting our debate and our analysis and information both in media and in private, but this is a very difficult challenge because we are overwhelmed all of us with information. It is analysis that makes the difference, and the ability to get that analysis to the right policy maker at the right time is a challenge, and I don't think we must be glib about this. We all struggle with this issue, and there's no easy solution. So I think that is one of our major challenges going ahead. Okay, would you like to comment? Yes, something very quick, and that is I think all of the think tanks we are data driven institutions in a way. So that means that we use the best evidence that we have in hand, and we provide like an observatory trying to be as impartial as possible. It's never totally possible, but we try to do that. And I think this is extremely important if this information is open. And I think that one of the major, I would say, things that we have to look for is the opening of information for the public good. Today we have the big data revolution basically for private purposes, which is okay, but we also need it for the public good. And I think this will be, I think this network of think tanks at the end of the day what we want is really to open this information for the world. Can I, towards the end here, just add to that that of all the multiple crises that we're seeing now, I think there is one word that connects almost everything, which is trust, or rather the erosion of trust. And we're talking about trust inside countries between rulers and the ruled, but also trust between countries and between societies. There's a clear crisis of trust. And one of the reasons is short termism, that many actors, governments and others are looking for short term solutions to what's actually long term problems. And what the think tank community can do is to address, to place the current into the vision of the future and the long trends and hence help more advanced policy making, but also other parts of society to understand the long term trajectories that sometimes the short term solution makes the problem worse, even if it looks like it's working for the first couple of weeks. Thank you, Esmer. Now we're under extreme time pressure to keep the schedules running. We are a Swiss organisation after all. So thank you for your time and I apologise we can't answer all your questions. Anyone who does have any questions to ask, I'd encourage you to try to grab our panellists outside. We do need to vacate this room though, so thanks very much indeed for joining us and we'll see you back here at one o'clock. Thank you.