As Davos enters the middle stretch conversation is hopscotching from automation to Donald Trump back to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Alec spent most of his day with the International Media Council, which had three presidents present. He was enthralled by one of the youngest, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, who has a C++ qualification and is well suited for discussions around the Internet. The most impressive for Alec however was Argentina’s newly elected president Mauricio Macri who’s taking the country from its socialist days onto a path of free enterprise. This is Day 3 of Alec Hogg’s Davos Diary. – Stuart Lowman
Hello, from Davos. I’m Alec Hogg and this is the Davos Diary Day 3.
Well, I like Thursdays at the World Economic Forum, probably because I’m a member of the International Media Council. They put together a particularly special program for us. This year, we had three Presidents who came through. The youngest (probably) of a big Western power, Justin Trudeau. He was most impressive. A young man with (the geeks would like this) a C++ coding qualification, so he knows about the Internet economy. He had some very interesting things to say about it and how he is adapting the Canadian approach towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Perhaps the most impressive of all of them was the new President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri. He has only recently taken power. The Socialists have been running Argentina for some years. Macri’s party was voted in with a huge majority and now has the mandate from the people in Argentina, to change things. He is a man of great experience. In fact, he says he’s dealt with Donald Trump for the last 30 years, so he wouldn’t find a ‘President Trump’ too difficult to engage with. Where Macri is taking Argentina, is on a course towards free market enterprise, towards capitalism, towards freeing up the economy, and towards growing the base. You get the feeling from the team that he had around him, that these are people who know what they’re doing. They like each other. They threw the mic to one another when they had various questions to discuss and you really got a feeling, almost like the old ANC in 1994 when there was so much hope, so much enthusiasm, and so much excitement.
This is Alec Hogg with the Davos Diary.