World business leaders and political powerbrokers wrapped up their annual gathering in Davos yesterday by revisiting the issue of global economic uncertainty that clouded this year's event.
IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was to lead a round-table discussion on the economic outlook for this year amid talk of a US recession and fears of its potential impact on the rest of the world.
The current shaky situation was to be addressed in a keynote speech by Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who will chair the annual G8 summit in July.
The premier told reporters before his departure for Switzerland that he would call for a collective response to the recent turmoil.
"The United States may seem to be the most responsible for the problem, but the global stockmarket plunge cannot be dealt with by a single country. It is important for all major countries to act at the same time," he said.
Noting that the Davos gathering "often helps set the tone for world opinion," Fukuda said he would make his speech with the G8 summit in mind.
The condition of the faltering US economy dominated the opening of the World Economic Forum in this Swiss ski resort on Wednesday.
In a nod to the prevailing mood, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who gave the keynote speech at the opening ceremony, felt obliged to talk up the "resilience" of the US economy, despite the stock market volatility triggered by the crisis in the subprime mortgage sector.
The gloomy atmosphere was in stark contrast to recent years when the Davos gathering had been held against a backdrop of bumper corporate profits, strong growth and tame inflation.
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