Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
With multilateral trade governance under strain, countries are turning to smaller strategic groupings with defined spheres of interest to advance trade agendas.
Is minilateralism an effective alternative to the global trading system that dominated the last century?
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
Deputy President Paul Mashatile meets with Vice President Han Zheng of the People’s Republic of China
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
Deputy President Paul Mashatile meeting the Vice President of China, Mr Hang Zheng
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
Emerging businesses are reshaping the global economy, scaling rapidly and achieving market influence once reserved for established institutions. Today, eight of the world’s ten largest publicly listed companies are technology firms, most built on innovations that did not exist a generation ago. Join leading Technology Pioneers and Innovators to explore what distinguishes their business models from traditional market players and how they are poised to shape the next decade of growth and transformation
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
As AI inference costs have dropped by over 90%, enterprises are embedding data and intelligence at the core of their operating and business models, enabling always-on, global execution beyond human limits.
How are these AI-first enterprises reorganizing around AI in practice, and under what conditions does this actually translate into long-term value for society?
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
Many of today’s systems are under strain, yet solving global challenges increasingly depends on them. From climate to healthcare, meaningful change often requires coordination across complex, slow-moving structures. But what if transformation doesn’t always start by fixing the system?
Join this session to discover how “workarounds” can become powerful pathways to systems change, unlocking progress where traditional approaches stall.
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
In 2025, the Belt and Road Initiative saw signs of renewed activity, with investment and construction picking up and trade with the Global South on the rise. Beyond infrastructure, the initiative evolved, combining megaprojects with growing investment in green energy and industrial ecosystems, while helping China rewire trade flows.
Amid an uncertain geoeconomic landscape, what do efforts to transition the initiative toward a more sustainable and innovation-led approach mean for participating countries?
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are not only environmental concerns but also economic ones, affecting agricultural output, water security and supply chain stability. Nature-positive models could unlock significant business value.
How can leaders integrate natural capital into economic strategy and treat ecosystem protection as a foundation of long-term competitiveness?
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
AI is reshaping markets in ways that fall unevenly on women, from automating roles where they are overrepresented to
concentrating venture capital in male-dominated networks.
As the technology accelerates, what steps are needed to ensure the AI transformation supports a level playing field rather than widening the gap?
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
Vehicles are evolving into software-defined systems built around centralized compute, modular architectures and continuous updates. This shift is decoupling hardware and software lifecycles and redistributing value across OEMs, suppliers and technology players. As control moves from distributed components to integrated software stacks, traditional roles across the automotive value chain are being redefined.
How is the transition to software-defined architectures reshaping industry structure, and who will control the key layers of the automotive stack?
