World Economic Forum 2025 Day 2 highlights: Maharashtra signs MoUs worth ₹4.99 lakh crore

Pakistan has agreed terms for a $1 billion loan with two Middle Eastern banks at a 6%-7% interest rate, its Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters on Tuesday, as the South Asian country looks for more financing.

“With two institutions we have now gone forward in signing up the term sheet - one bilateral and one for trade (finance),” Mr. Aurangzeb said during an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

The loans were short-term, or up to one year, Mr. Aurangzeb added.

The country’s central bank chief told Reuters in August that Pakistan aimed to raise up to $4 billion from Middle Eastern commercial banks by the next fiscal year.

Mr. Aurangzeb added that Pakistan was aiming to discuss with ratings agencies a move towards a single B rating, and hoping to see an upgrade in the months to come.

“Ideally I would like to think that some action in this direction can take place before our fiscal year is over, which is this June,” he said.

In Davos, Maharashtra today signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth ₹4.99 lakh crore. These investments are expected to generate 92,235 jobs.

Among these, the most significant MoU, worth ₹3 lakh crore, was signed with JSW Group for investments in steel, renewable energy, infrastructure, cement, lithium-ion batteries, solar wafers, and cell modules.

The first MoU signed at Davos was for the Maoist-affected Gadchiroli district. The agreement, worth ₹5,200 crore, was signed with Kalyani Group for projects in defence manufacturing, steel production, and electric vehicles. The initiative is projected to generate 4,000 jobs in the district.

The agreements include investments from Reliance Infrastructure, Balasore Alloys Ltd., Viraj Profiles Pvt. Ltd., AB InBev, JSW, Vari Energy, Tembo, Blackstone, Panchshil Realty, Avni Power Batteries, GenSol, Bisleri International, and others. The investments cover logistics, automobiles, steel, electronics, IT, infrastructure, energy, and entertainment.

The Maharashtra go to also signed an agreement with FUEL (Friends Union for Energising Lives) to train 5,000 youth in Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, and Business Analytics. FUEL also announced plans to establish the FUEL SkillTech University in Pune.

“Today is a historic day for Maharashtra. While it’s snowing outside in Davos, the investment flow inside has created a warm atmosphere,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He stressed Maharashtra’s fast and investor-friendly “Ease of Doing Business” environment, adding that investors are queuing up to put their money into the state.

Abhinay Deshpandey reports.

U.S. billionaire Elon Musk called the chancellor of Germany “Oaf Schitz” on his social media platform X, responding to a video of the leader’s comments on free speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Shame on Oaf Schitz!” Mr. Musk wrote in a post, after Olaf Scholz said freedom of speech should not support extreme-right views.

- Reuters

A war between Israel and Iran should be avoided, Saudi Foreign Minister said in Davos, adding that he did not see the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump contributing to the risk of such conflict.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, who spoke during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Switzerland, also said he would visit Lebanon later this week, the first such trip in more than a decade.

- Reuters

Ukraine is working to set up a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy said, after giving a speech calling on European leaders to do more to defend the continent.

“The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelenskyy said of efforts to arrange a meeting with Mr. Trump. He was speaking in an interview panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Mr. Trump, who took office on yesterday, has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not agree to Russian demands that it drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would demand Ukraine cut its military to a fifth its size.

“This is what he wants. We will not allow this to happen,” Zelenskyy said.

- Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Europe to establish itself as a strong global player, saying it needed to be able to guarantee peace and security for itself and for others.

”Even though Russia’s overall economic potential is way smaller than Europe’s, it produces several times more ammo and military equipment than all of Europe combined,” Mr. Zelenskyy told delegates of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised Elon Musk’s support for “extreme-right positions” after the tech mogul backed Germany’s far-right AfD party and sparked criticism with a gesture some likened to a Nazi salute.

“We have freedom of speech in Europe and in Germany,” Mr. Scholz told the World Economic Forum when asked about Musk, who made the gesture at an event marking US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. “Everyone can say what he wants even if he is a billionaire. What we do not accept is if this is supporting extreme right positions.”

- AFP

The Vice President of Yemen’s U.N.-recognised government welcomed Donald Trump’s return as U.S. president, saying it was a decisive turning point to curb the Iran-backed Houthis, who he said threaten regional stability and maritime security.

Aidarous al-Zubaidi said that Mr. Trump’s strong leadership and willingness to employ military strength were in sharp contrast to the Biden administration, which he said had allowed the Houthis to consolidate power, bolster their military capabilities and extend their reach beyond Yemen.

“Trump knows what he wants. He is a strong decision-maker,” Mr. Zubaidi said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos.

“We are fans, admirers and supporters of Trump’s policy .... because he has a personality that has enough decision-making power to rule America and the world,” he said, adding that he expected talks with the incoming administration to begin soon.

While the Houthis control the northwest of Yemen, where most of its 23 million people live, the rest is held by the Southern Transitional Council which wants an independent southern Yemen and is backed by the United Arab Emirates.

- Reuters

Portugal plans to increase purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and Nigeria as it aims to end already dwindling supplies from Russia, Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said.

Portugal imported 49,141 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of natural gas in 2024, of which around 96% was LNG, data from electricity and gas grids operator REN shows.

Nigeria accounted for 51% of those LNG deliveries, about 40% came from the United States and around 4.4% from Russia.

In 2021, Russia accounted for 15% of Portugal’s LNG supply.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union has implemented targeted sanctions on Russian oil and gas imported through pipelines, but has not prevented the import of LNG transported by ship into Europe.

“Portugal is now practically independent of Russian gas ... but we want to reduce this figure further by importing more gas from Nigeria and the United States,” Graca Carvalho told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to economic website ECO.

- Reuters

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he would “defend free trade as the basis of our prosperity”, a day after US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs and taxes on trade partners.

“Isolation comes at the expense of prosperity,” Mr. Scholz told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“We will defend free trade as the basis of our prosperity, together with other partners.”

“Europe is committed to free, fair world trade. And we are not alone in this,” he added.

Mr. Trump, in his inaugural address, promised duties on other countries “to enrich our citizens”, and later said he could impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as early as February 1.

“President Trump says ‘America First’ and he means it. There is nothing wrong with keeping your own country’s interests in mind. We all do that,” Scholz said.

“It’s just that cooperation and understanding with others are usually in your own interest as well.”

- AFP

Donald Trump has heralded his record on workers, vowing to be a voice for the working classes on the campaign trail, but the head of a global unions group is not convinced.

International Trade Union Confederation chief Luc Triangle said that Trump’s previous years proved he could not be trusted in office.

“I don’t believe him, knowing what he did in the first four years. He was not the president of workers,” Triangle said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

By coincidence of timing, the forum began just as Trump was sworn in on Monday as the United States’ 47th president.

- AFP

Greenpeace activists evaded the World Economic Forum’s tight security checks on Tuesday, staging a brief climate change protest outside the main hall of the annual meeting in Davos.

Dressed up in dark suits and white shirts, three protesters made it into the Congress Centre and scaled a balcony. Two then unfurled a large banner saying: “Tax the super-rich. Fund a just & green future”.

Security staff intervened and escorted the protesters away, shortly before the official opening ceremony and a speech by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“The three activists have been taken away from the scene,” Greenpeace activist Clara Thompson later said by telephone. Asked how they had got inside the security cordon, Thompson said: “They had their ways and means, I can’t say any more.”

- Reuters

South Africa’s economic outlook is better this year than last, but the inflation picture is more muddied as risks abound, its central bank governor said.

South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Lesetja Kganyago told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that growth in Africa’s most industrialised economy could be close to 2% in 2025, versus the 1.1% growth projected for 2024.

“Depending on who is forecasting, growth varies between 1.6% and 2% (this year). We think ... it would be closer to 2% than closer to 1.6%,” he told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

- Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the Swiss town of Davos to take part in the World Economic Forum (WEF), his spokesman.

“At approximately 15:30 Kyiv time (1330 GMT) he will address the WEF. The agenda also includes bilateral talks with leaders from different parts of the world, from Latin America to Southeast Asia,” spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said.

- AFP

The World Economic Forum on Tuesday announced Schwab Foundation Awards for 18 social entrepreneurs and innovators from 15 organisations across 13 countries, including India.

The awards are given by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the Motsepe Foundation.

Awardees in the social entrepreneurs category included Akshay Saxena, Co-Founder of Avanti Fellows, a non-profit that aims to provide equitable access to India’s top science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) colleges.

Vineet Singal, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CareMessage, has also been given the award in this category. His organisation is a US-based technology non-profit building the largest patient engagement platform for low-income populations in the U.S.

-PTI

Read more here.

Mr. Rajan also ruled out any immediate possibility of a common currency for BRICS grouping.

“For BRICS to have a common currency, we need to sort a lot many geopolitical issues. There are concerns between India and China, while other members have separate issues. I don’t see that happening anytime soon,” he added.

-PTI

When people talk about U.S. dollar remaining supreme in the next 25 years, it is certainly based on expectations that the world will remain united, said Raghuram Rajan in Davos.

When people talk about a non-central bank digital currency gaining ground as a widespread means of payment, a key concern among central banks especially outside North America and the Euro bloc, it is a fear of weaponisation, he added.

If you are in an emerging market, you are really worried about dollar. I won’t comment on what is the real rate, but there are concerns, Mr. Rajan said.

Central banks of many emerging markets are being forced to intervene to arrest decline of their currencies against dollar but the point is they should not as it’s not their fault, he said.

-PTI

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday lauded the Modi government for doing a lot of good work on the infrastructure front in India and hoped there would be some concrete steps in the upcoming Budget to boost the job market.

Speaking at a session on the US. .dollar in Davos at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Mr. Rajan also said the depreciation in rupee to near ₹85-level against the U.S. dollar is more because of the strengthening of the American currency rather than any domestic factor.

The Modi government has done a lot of good work on the infrastructure front but the other key pillar that needs to boost consumption is the job market, he said.

India is growing at 6%, which is actually great but when we look at per capita figures, it needs to grow much faster, Mr. Rajan said.

There is an urgent need to boost the job market, he said, adding, “a Union Budget is due in the next few days and hopefully we will see something there”.

-PTI

Asserting that Indian workers prove their mettle everywhere they go including in leadership roles, Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary has said this success story is set to grow further on the global stage.

“The WEF meeting in Davos is a very big event and is attended by people related to the global economy, leaders of various countries, government and non-government organisations and corporates,” he said, while underlining a need to further stress on the Indian growth story before the world.

“Anyone working on cutting-edge technologies and those working on new ideas, they all come here. A big delegation has come here with a lot of hope and I’ve got this great opportunity to be a representative of India here,” he said soon after reaching Davos.

Read more here.

On the second day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu addressed a special session of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on green industrialization.

Highlighting his long-standing partnership with CII since 1995, he reflected on his journey of driving transformative change, citing Hyderabad’s emergence as one of India’s most livable cities and a global hub for IT, healthcare, and innovation as proof of concept.

“We have a demographic advantage, and Indian entrepreneurs, especially those from Andhra Pradesh, are excelling globally, contributing to the world economy. India is poised to lead, with Bloomberg predicting it will provide incremental GDP growth by 2027. From 2028 onward, it will be the Indian era,” he remarked.

-G.V.R. Subba Rao

World Economic Forum 2025: Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu highlights India’s green industrialization, leadership vision

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu discusses green industrialization, India's economic potential, and Andhra Pradesh's sustainable energy initiatives at WEF.

A Kerala delegation is attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in Switzerland, seeking to attract investments. 

The delegation, led by Industries Minister P. Rajeeve, is focusing on holding one-on-one meetings with potential investors in the 22 priority sectors identified for sustainable growth. 

“WEF is a great opportunity for us to meet all potential investors at a single point. Since the State of Kerala is going to host an Invest Kerala Global Summit at Kochi on February 21 and 22, we are organising several preparatory programmes and roadshows here. We also have a Kerala pavilion that showcases the State’s strengths. Invest India and the CII are facilitating these programmes,” Mr. Rajeeve told The Hindu from Davos.

Kerala delegation led by Industries Minister at Davos to meet potential investors

A Kerala delegation is attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in Switzerland, seeking to attract investments.  

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to hold up to 15 meetings on the second day of his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, officials said on Tuesday.

Besides meetings with the executives of top global companies, the Chief Minister is also slated to participate in roundtable conferences on green hydrogen, green manufacturing, next petrochemical hub, energy transmission and blue economy, an official press release said.

-PTI

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, during his tour to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, addressed an enthusiastic gathering of Telugu entrepreneurs and professionals at a Meet and Greet event organised by the Telugu community in Zurich on Monday. He expressed his pride in being a part of the Telugu community and shared his vision for the state’s future.

Mr. Naidu said that it was his fortune to be born into the Telugu community, which has always been a source of inspiration. “If there is a rebirth, I wish to be born as a Telugu child again. My heart and soul are dedicated to the progress of our people,” he said. 

If there is a rebirth, I wish to be born as Telugu again, says CM Chandrababu Naidu in Davos

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu shares his vision for Andhra Pradesh's future with Telugu entrepreneurs and professionals in Zurich.

WEF President and CEO Borge Brense said the meeting is taking place at one of the most uncertain moments in a generation, as new geoeconomic, geopolitical and technological forces reshape our societies.

The dynamic changes taking place are creating both significant challenges to address, as well as important opportunities, particularly regarding fast-evolving technologies, to unlock, he said.

In convening 3,000 leaders from around the world and across the public and private sectors, our aim is to help strengthen or build the collaboration needed for this unique moment, he said in his welcome message for nearly 3,000 leaders from across the globe participating in the five-day meeting that will continue till January 24.

-PTI