Jake's ViewA talk shop is in no position to lecture Hong Kong
The city is one of the most innovative economies and has been since birth, yet the World Economic Forum insists we need to up our game
Hong Kong must improve innovation and higher education if it is to enhance its global competitiveness, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum warned …
Let's get the proper perspective on the World Economic Forum first. The WEF is a German professor by the name of Klaus Schwab, who set it up as a talk shop in 1971 and is still its executive chairman.
The WEF is best known for the gale of hot air it generates every January at its annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. It is a namedroppers' must gathering. Gordon Brown, who was then prime minister of Britain, talked to Queen Rania of Jordan there in 2008. Fact. And the then-prime minister of Japan, Naoto Kan, delivered a special message there in 2011. He really did.
Hong Kong has always faced the big challenge of innovation. Find something new or wither away
The WEF has a motto - "Entrepreneurship in the global public interest". It also has another motto - "Committed to improving the state of the world". The theme of this year's talk shop was "Resilient Dynamism", as Prof Schwab has ordained that "The need for global co-operation has never been greater."