WEF chairman welcomes Trump visit but doesn’t expect any ‘miracles’
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WEF chairman welcomes Trump visit but doesn’t expect any ‘miracles’
The new co-chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), André Hoffmann, says he has no great expectations of Donald Trump's appearance at the forum. "I don't expect any miracles," said the heir to Swiss pharma firm Roche on Thursday in the business newspaper Handelszeitung.
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He was speaking to the press for the first time since taking up his new post last summer alongside Blackrock founder Larry Fink.
“The WEF is delighted to have the president of the world’s most powerful country in Davos,” said Hoffmann, who had previously described the US president as a “corrupt old man”.
“Different voices must be heard if we are to establish a true spirit of dialogue,” he added.
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The WEF’s new co-chair asserted that the programme had not been changed at Trump’s request. “The programme was set well before it became clear that the United States would be present” and no one had asked for it to be changed, he said.
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‘Everything remains as it is’
Hoffmann took over the reins of the WEF with Larry Fink following the forced departure of its founder Klaus Schwab, who was the target of fraud accusations. Reforms within the organisation are not necessary for the time being, according to the vice-president of the Roche pharmaceutical group.
Similarly, the annual forum will remain in Davos. “For the time being, everything will remain as it is,” he said. A farewell to Klaus Schwab is planned, “but not in January”.
Adapted from German by AI/jdp
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