It’s been six years since Emmanuel Macron attended the World Economic Forum in Davos. He had, of course, participated in 2021 by videoconference – Covid requires – but his last face-to-face appearance dates back to 2018, a little less than a year after he came to power. If he chose the 2024 edition – which runs from January 15 to 19 – to make his return to the famous ski resort, it is for a very specific reason: to make France shine. The President of the Republic knows that the coming months promise to be flattering for the image of the country, from the Olympic Games to the summit of La Francophonie, including the reopening of Notre-Dame and the 80th anniversary of the landing. A catch-all which justifies, in the eyes of the Elysée, taking possession of the summit to place the tricolor pawns against the world’s economic elite.
A very Franco-French program
During his visit this Wednesday, January 17, the Head of State will first meet an audience of sixty international bosses in the afternoon. Objective ? Convince them to invest in France. A Choose France bis, in short. Gone are the gilding and wall paintings of the Château de Versailles, make way for the powdery Swiss slopes. Emmanuel Macron does not come empty-handed, or at least alone. Four regional presidents, including Valérie Pécresse and Renaud Muselier, agreed to accompany him in order to praise the attractiveness of their respective territories. Also alongside him are representatives of 20 French ETIs, SMEs and start-ups, including the recent artificial intelligence unicorn Mistral AI and the electric battery specialist Verkor. A large delegation which necessarily generates transport and accommodation costs, of which the Elysée is exempt, to avoid any controversy, by insisting on the fact that each member is indeed a “guest” of the Forum. During the plenary session, Emmanuel Macron will highlight France’s unique place in Europe while discussing the challenges in terms of employment and growth.
An evening under the label “Make It Iconic”, the communication campaign launched by the government last November to promote France’s assets abroad, will then take place in the presence of two “muses” of the program: the star of AI adored by Silicon Valley Yann LeCun and the co-founder of the second-hand platform Vestiaire Collective, Fanny Moizant. If France’s position on the global economic scene is obviously central, is this summit bringing together the world’s financiers really the place to make a comeback? Especially since this 54th edition, in which around sixty heads of state are participating, should be largely devoted to geopolitics. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected there, while American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang could meet, against a backdrop of tensions around Taiwan. Above all, does Emmanuel Macron really need to praise the country’s deadlines to economic players, the most important of which – the Olympics – when others will experience crucial elections and two major conflicts are underway?