DAVOS, Switzerland — The most powerful business leaders in the world worry about the environment — then sit in idling cars in traffic-clogged streets next to brightly lit storefronts. All this, even though it is sometimes easier to walk through the winding streets of Davos, the highest city in the Swiss Alps and host to the World Economic Forum.
The traffic delayed two delegates who were to meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday night, both from a company whose business includes building cars: Tata. There is a push for gender parity among delegates, even though four-fifths of those here are men. It is also a spot to hobnob, network, see and be seen and rub shoulders — sometimes literally in long lineups to get into hotels, buildings and venues — with celebrities and business powerhouses. Trudeau has had a chance to meet all of them.
He has met the heads of General Motors, Royal Dutch Shell, drug giant Novartis and the president of Switzerland, Johann Schneider-Ammann, whose handlers had to turn down requests from local reporters to question Trudeau because they were so curious about him. Trudeau spent almost as much time taking selfies with a group of young people involved in the group Global Shapers as he did speaking to them. The Global Shapers event was extended again and again, leading Trudeau to joke that it was like the final instalment of The Lord of the Rings — just when you thought it was over, it kept going.
The prime minister caught a little one-on-one time with captains of industry and world leaders in a format not unlike speed dating. Whether these brief encounters will lead to relationship or even engagement, only time will tell. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site.
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