WORLD BUSINESS FORUM 2026 held in Davos

DAVOS, Switzerland — 11 July 2026 — The Davos World Business Forum 2026 successfully concluded at the Davos Congress Centre, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, corporate executives, policymakers, innovators, educators, institutional leaders and business delegations from more than 40 countries.

Delegations from Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan, Australia, South Africa, the United States, Moldova, Lithuania, Georgia, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Poland, Austria and many other countries participated in discussions focused on international trade, innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable economic development.

Official website: http://GlobalBusinessWeek.com

The main theme of the 2026 forum is BUSINESS DIPLOMACY. This choice is not accidental. The world is entering a period in which entrepreneurs are increasingly becoming not only creators of companies, jobs, and technologies, but also informal diplomats: they connect markets, build trust between countries, shape supply chains, create partnerships, and maintain economic bridges where political relations are becoming more complex.

The Davos Business Forum welcomed an exceptional international line-up of business leaders, entrepreneurs, economists, investors and innovators representing multiple industries and regions of the world.

Discussions covered topics including:

• Global economic transformation
• International investment
• Artificial Intelligence and digital innovation
• Energy transition
• Family business development
• Entrepreneurship and startup ecosystems
• International trade
• Leadership and business strategy
• Education for future economies
• Sustainable economic growth
• Business diplomacy and international cooperation

The Forum was opened by Christina Batruch, daughter of Bohdan Hawrylyshyn, co-founder and first Director of the World Economic Forum. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth, making the opening of the Forum especially symbolic and historically meaningful.

GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK features a strong international line-up of speakers, entrepreneurs, educators and business leaders, including:

• Andrew Azarov (UK) 🇬🇧
• Larisa Miller (USA) 🇺🇸
• Evan Yang (Republic of China) 🇹🇼
• Christina Batruch (Switzerland) 🇨🇭
• Vladyslav Rashkovan (USA) 🇺🇸
• Abdullah Alsharif (Saudi Arabia) 🇸🇦
• Arvils Pekuless (Lithuania) 🇱🇹
• Kivanc Gorkem Uclertopragi (Turkey),
• Batyr Ravshanov (Turkmenistan) 🇹🇲
• Dr Olga Azarova (UK) 🇬🇧
• Dr Liudmyla Stanislavenko (Ukraine) 🇺🇦
• Durga Das (USA-India) 🇺🇸 🇮🇳
• Igor Tkachuk (Ukraine) 🇺🇦
• Elena Vykhrystyuk (Ukraine) 🇺🇦
• Paul Goggin (UK) 🇬🇧
• Cherry Chang (Republic of China) 🇹🇼
• Wendy Silinyana (South Africa) 🇿🇦
• Elena Lee (Kazakhstan) 🇰🇿
• Elena Chirich (Australia) 🇦🇺
• Lyazzat Alshinova (Kazakhstan) 🇰🇿
• Narmina Hasanova (Azerbaijan) 🇦🇿
• Dr. Watceilia Varso (Australia) 🇦🇺
• Jamilya Kerimova (Turkmenistan) 🇹🇲
• Dr Mohammad Al Sardari (Iraq),
• Dinora Saitova (Kazakhstan) 🇰🇿
• Tatiana Markova (Ukraine) 🇺🇦
• Viktoriya Trotska (USA) 🇺🇸
• Irina Nikolenko (Poland),
• Nazzara Ergasheva (Kyrgyzstan) 🇰🇬
• Irina Khazhalia (Georgia) 🇬🇪
• Svitlana Yashchenok (Austria) 🇦🇹
• Maria Luisa Huidobro (Spain)
• Irina Selevestru (Moldova)
• Stefania Didenko (Ukraine)
• Inga Malakmadze (Georgia)
• Ira Goel (Germany)
• Siphawe Gumede (South Africa)
• Aurika Vranchanu (Switzerland)
• and many other distinguished experts.

and many other distinguished experts, entrepreneurs, educators and representatives of business communities.

Why Davos Is a Symbolically Precise Location for WBF 2026

Davos has long been perceived as one of the main places of global dialogue. It is a city associated with the idea of international meetings, intellectual leadership, and discussions about the future of the world economy. But GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK 2026 adds an important emphasis to this context: while traditional global forums are often focused on major political and corporate players, GBW makes the international agenda more open to entrepreneurs, family business owners, start-ups, investors, educational leaders, and business communities from different countries.

Entrepreneurial capital is the most valuable resource on the planet. Without it, oil, gas, and gold would simply remain natural resources. Business is built on strong personalities who take responsibility and bring what they start to completion.

Today, according to the World Bank, the global population of working age — 15 to 64 years old — in 2025 was around 5.4 billion people, or approximately 65% of the world’s population. This group forms the main foundation of the global labour market, entrepreneurship, consumption, and economic activity. At the same time, if we include all categories — business founders, start-up founders, and the self-employed — the number of entrepreneurs among them is around 600 million people, or 11%. If we count only entrepreneurs who create and manage companies, their share is estimated at no more than 1–2% of the population.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2025/2026 also shows that modern entrepreneurship is becoming more conscious: 84% of early-stage entrepreneurs take social and/or environmental impact into account in business decisions, while youth entrepreneurial activity remains historically high. This means that entrepreneurs are not simply the vanguard of the world economy. They are a vast human layer that creates jobs, products, innovations, local ecosystems, and new forms of international cooperation. This is why GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK addresses precisely this force and works to build a culture of entrepreneurship across different generations.

Business Beyond the Conference Hall

Beyond formal sessions, the Forum featured extensive networking programmes, bilateral business meetings, partnership negotiations, cultural diplomacy events and executive roundtables.

Many participants described the combination of professional dialogue and relationship-building activities as one of the Forum's greatest strengths, creating an atmosphere where long-term international partnerships could develop naturally.

The Forum concluded with numerous new cooperation agreements, investment discussions and cross-border initiatives expected to continue long after the event.

Family Business: The Hidden Pillar of Global GDP

GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK has special significance for family companies. Family business is not limited to small family shops or local enterprises. It also includes large industrial groups, educational networks, agribusinesses, manufacturing companies, investment structures, brands, development companies, and international holdings. For example, around 80% of the economies of Germany and Japan — both leading technological countries — is created by family corporations.
According to McKinsey, family-owned businesses collectively contribute more than 70% of global GDP, generate annual revenues of around USD 60–70 trillion, and provide approximately 60% of global employment.

This statistic changes the way we look at family entrepreneurship. Family business is not the private story of one family. It is one of the main mechanisms for developing global economic resilience.

That is why, in the structure of GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK 2026, the transition from three intensive days of business forums to a strategic family business retreat is so important.

Join the GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK 2027: +44-744-218-77-04 

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Zelensky in Washington performed a "feat" that previously seemed impossible — Politico.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to the United States on July 28 accomplished a feat that seemed impossible a year ago. He managed to convince Washington that Kyiv could win the war, writes Politico.

Unlike Zelensky's exhausting visit to the Oval Office in February 2025, this time he left the meeting with President Donald Trump in a high spirits. 

The Ukrainian president completed the trip with another victory, watching as the Senate voted by a landslide majority to introduce new sanctions against countries buying Russian oil.

The publication notes that this was the culmination of the day, which turned out to be a remarkable turn after Zelensky's previous visit. The vote, which the Ukrainian leader watched from the gallery in the Senate chamber, brought Congress one step closer to achieving the main priority for Zelensky and is another signal that Kyiv's fate is improving not only on the battlefield.

The Ukrainian leader emphasized that sanctions could help consolidate the gains Ukraine has made in combat and force Putin to the negotiating table, even as he renewed his request for greater access to key weapons systems.

Clearly, Zelenskyy’s proposal carries weight, and lawmakers across the ideological spectrum appear to have backed his strategy. It is also worth noting the emerging consensus that Ukraine can defeat Russia.

"The shift in dynamics is driven by the success they are achieving on the battlefield," said Republican Senator John Boozman.

The vote on sanctions also coincided with the memorial service for the late Senator Lindsey Graham—a proponent of the legislation and a key ally of Ukraine. Zelenskyy attended Graham’s funeral in Washington alongside Trump, senior lawmakers, and other foreign dignitaries.

"The atmosphere surrounding Trump and Zelenskyy is completely different now compared to a year ago, given that Ukraine is performing much better in the war," said a former U.S. administration official.

Olena Vykhrystiuk Presents Ukraine’s Business Ecosystem Model at the BIGBOSS 2026 World Business Forum in Davos

Olena Vykhrystiuk, a prominent Ukrainian entrepreneur and missionary, and head of the Supreme National Council of the World Woman Club in Ukraine, became one of the distinguished speakers at the BIGBOSS 2026 World Business Forum, held as part of Global Business Week 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. 

Her presentation, entitled “Business Ecosystems as a Model for Ukraine’s Economic Resilience: From Retail and Manufacturing to Investment and International Partnership,” offered a practical and strategic vision of how Ukrainian companies can build sustainable growth despite extraordinary economic and geopolitical challenges.

Drawing on more than twenty-five years of entrepreneurial experience, Vykhrystiuk presented the business ecosystem not simply as a corporate structure, but as a model of economic resilience. Her central argument was clear: the future belongs not to isolated companies operating independently, but to interconnected business systems in which manufacturing, retail, logistics, distribution, international trade and investment reinforce one another.

This approach, she argued, allows businesses to reduce operational risks, respond more quickly to changing market conditions and retain a larger share of added value within the national economy. It also enables companies to exercise greater control over quality, supply chains and customer experience.

From Retail to an Integrated Value-Creation System

Food retail has historically formed the foundation of Vykhrystiuk’s business activity. Over time, however, this foundation developed into a diversified ecosystem encompassing bakery and confectionery production, meat-processing facilities, ready-to-cook food manufacturing, vegetable farming and modern greenhouse agriculture.

The ecosystem also includes food import and export, distribution, coffee shop development and investment activities. Rather than functioning as unrelated business divisions, these areas operate as interconnected parts of a single value-creation chain.

This model offers several strategic advantages. Retail operations provide direct knowledge of consumer behaviour and market demand. Manufacturing increases control over product quality, cost and innovation. Agriculture strengthens access to raw materials. Logistics and distribution connect production with domestic and international markets. Investment activity creates opportunities for expansion and modernisation.

The result is a business structure capable of adapting more effectively to disruption while continuing to create employment, products and economic value.

For Ukraine, this model has particular significance. In an environment shaped by war, interrupted supply chains, damaged infrastructure, demographic pressures and investment uncertainty, a company’s ability to integrate multiple functions can become a vital source of stability.

Ukrainian Entrepreneurship as a Global Example of Resilience

One of the most important themes of Vykhrystiuk’s speech was the exceptional adaptability demonstrated by Ukrainian entrepreneurs.

Businesses in Ukraine have been required to operate under circumstances that would normally bring commercial activity to a standstill. Companies have faced energy shortages, logistical disruption, workforce displacement, changing consumer demand and severe security risks. Nevertheless, many Ukrainian entrepreneurs have continued to manufacture, trade, invest, employ people and support their communities.

This experience has transformed resilience from an abstract management concept into a daily business capability.

Kivanc Gorkem Uclertopragi: Global Energy Market Enters a New Industrial Era

Kivanc Gorkem Uclertopragi presented an operator’s view of the forces reshaping energy, transport and industry at the World Business Forum 2026 in Davos

Guests at the Davos Congress Centre warmly applauded Kivanc Gorkem Uclertopragi of Türkiye, one of the distinguished speakers at the World Business Forum 2026, held within Global Business Week in Davos.

His presentation offered a clear and practical overview of the global energy market: where it stands today, which technologies are changing it, what is preventing faster progress and which investment decisions will shape the coming decades.

The central message could be expressed in three words: Electrification is everything.

The transition is no longer limited to replacing coal and gas power stations with wind and solar generation. The next phase is about electrifying entire economic systems: passenger transport, freight, buildings, industrial processes, heating, cooling, data centres and urban infrastructure.

The countries and companies capable of producing affordable electricity, delivering it through modern grids and storing it reliably will gain a significant industrial advantage.

Electricity is becoming the backbone of the global economy

Global energy demand increased by 2.2% in 2024, but electricity demand rose almost twice as quickly—by approximately 4.3%. In 2025, worldwide electricity consumption grew by a further 3%, adding around 800 terawatt-hours in a single year. This indicates that economic growth is becoming progressively more electricity-intensive. (IEA)

Several forces are driving this acceleration simultaneously:

• the expansion of electric vehicles;

• the electrification of heating and industrial equipment;

• greater demand for air conditioning;

• rapid growth in data centres and artificial intelligence;

• increased manufacturing of batteries, semiconductors and clean-energy technologies.

Data centres alone consumed approximately 415 TWh of electricity in 2024, equivalent to around 1.5% of global electricity consumption. Their electricity use has been growing by approximately 12% annually since 2017—more than four times faster than total global electricity consumption. (IEA)

This is why electrification should not be understood merely as an environmental programme. It is becoming a core issue of industrial policy, economic competitiveness and national security.

Renewables are expanding at unprecedented speed

The power system supplying this new electric economy is also changing rapidly.

Around 700 GW of renewable capacity was added worldwide in 2024, with solar photovoltaic systems accounting for almost 80% of the total. Renewable and nuclear generation together supplied more than 80% of the annual increase in global electricity output. For the first time, these low-emission sources produced approximately 40% of the world’s electricity. (IEA)

Solar power has become the fastest-growing major source of electricity. Global solar generation increased by about 480 TWh in 2024, while wind generation grew by approximately 180 TWh. Nevertheless, fossil fuels still generated close to 60% of global electricity, including 35% from coal and more than 20% from natural gas. (IEA)

The transition is therefore advancing rapidly but remains incomplete. The world is building the new energy system while continuing to depend heavily on the old one.

Between 2025 and 2030, the International Energy Agency expects renewable capacity to expand by almost 4,600 GW—approximately twice the amount installed during the preceding five years. Solar PV is projected to represent nearly 80% of that expansion. (IEA)

Battery storage is moving from supporting technology to essential infrastructure

Mr Uclertopragi placed particular emphasis on the economics of battery storage—and for good reason.

Electricity must be consumed at almost the same moment it is produced. As the share of weather-dependent solar and wind generation increases, energy systems require greater flexibility to balance periods of surplus and shortage.

In 2025, the world installed 108 GW of new battery-storage capacity, 40% more than in 2024. Global installed capacity is now approximately eleven times higher than it was in 2021. Lithium-iron-phosphate technology accounted for around 90% of new deployments because of its falling costs, durability and suitability for frequent charging cycles. (IEA)

Storage can reduce renewable-energy curtailment, shift inexpensive solar electricity into evening demand periods, support grid stability and provide backup capacity.

However, battery storage is not a complete substitute for transmission infrastructure, flexible generation, demand management or long-duration storage. The future power system will require all these elements operating together.

The greatest bottleneck may not be generation—but the grid

One of the most important realities highlighted by an operator’s perspective is that building renewable generation is often faster than connecting it.

More than 2,500 GW of renewable, storage and large electricity-demand projects are currently delayed in grid-connection queues worldwide. In 2024, the IEA identified around 1,650 GW of advanced solar and wind projects awaiting connection. (IEA)

The problem is becoming increasingly physical:

• insufficient transmission capacity;

• long planning and permitting procedures;

• shortages of transformers and high-voltage cables;

• limited availability of qualified engineers;

• connection queues lasting several years;

• regulatory systems designed for a slower, centralised energy market.

Prices and procurement times for important grid components have almost doubled within four years. Global transmission investment reached approximately $140 billion in 2023, but the IEA estimates that annual spending must rise beyond $200 billion by the mid-2030s under current policy needs—and to as much as $250–300 billion in scenarios fully aligned with international energy and climate objectives. (IEA)

This means that the winners of the energy transition will not necessarily be the countries that announce the most renewable projects. They will be those that can connect, finance and operate them.

Electric mobility is moving into the mainstream

The transformation of transport is another major source of electricity demand.

Global electric-car sales exceeded 20 million vehicles in 2025, increasing by approximately 20% in one year. Electric models accounted for around 25% of all new cars sold worldwide. (IEA)

The next challenge is more complex: the electrification of commercial fleets and heavy transport.

Electric-truck sales in Europe increased by approximately 40% in 2025, reaching almost 17,000 vehicles. Yet they represented only about 3% of total truck sales, demonstrating both the scale of the opportunity and the distance still to travel. (IEA)

Türkiye as a strategic emerging-market case

Mr Uclertopragi’s perspective from Türkiye was particularly relevant because the country combines rapid economic growth, rising electricity demand, manufacturing capacity and considerable dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Türkiye has significantly diversified its power system. Renewable electricity generation has tripled over the past decade, although the wider economy remains dependent on imported oil and gas. (IEA)

Wind and solar generated approximately 22% of Türkiye’s electricity in 2025, while combined installed wind and solar capacity reached about 40 GW. At the same time, coal remained the country’s largest source of electricity, supplying around 34% of generation. (ember-energy.org)

Türkiye therefore illustrates the central challenge facing many emerging markets: demand is growing, renewable resources are strong, and investment opportunities are significant—but grids, storage, financing costs and continued fossil-fuel dependence complicate the transition.

Electrification could reduce exposure to imported fuels, support domestic industry and create new export opportunities. However, success will require bankable projects, predictable regulation and access to affordable long-term capital.

From Davos to COP31 in Antalya

The discussion was especially timely because COP31 will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. The conference will place Türkiye at the centre of international negotiations concerning energy investment, emissions reduction, climate finance and implementation. (unfccc.int)

The central challenge for COP31 will be to move from declarations to delivery. Governments may agree on global ambitions, but implementation depends on millions of physical decisions: substations, transformers, batteries, charging hubs, industrial equipment and transmission lines.

Electrification targets must therefore be supported by measurable commitments on infrastructure, supply chains, finance and grid reform.

A presentation grounded in reality

The strongest aspect of Kivanc Gorkem Uclertopragi’s address was its practical orientation. Rather than treating the energy transition as an abstract debate, he focused on the physical systems that will determine its success:

energy generation, storage, grids, vehicles, charging infrastructure and capital.

The Global Business Week 2026 team expresses its sincere appreciation to Mr Uclertopragi for a powerful, timely and highly informative presentation.

The World Business Forum in Davos brought together speakers and delegates representing 42 countries and 27 industries, demonstrating that the energy transition cannot be addressed by the energy sector alone. It requires cooperation between technology companies, manufacturers, financial institutions, governments, educators, infrastructure operators and entrepreneurs.

Business has no borders when leaders are united by a common vision—and the future will belong to those who can turn electrification from an ambition into working infrastructure.

#EnergyMarket #EnergyEfficiency #Electrification #GlobalBusinessWeek #Davos #WorldBusinessForum #WorldDiplomacyForum #EnergyTransition #RenewableEnergy #BatteryStorage #ElectricVehicles #COP31 #BusinessDiplomacy #BossClub100

Swiss Big Names at Global Business Week 2026 in Davos

From Alpine Heritage to Future Innovation: The Heierling Family at Global Business Week 2026 in Davos

The fourth and fifth generations of one of Switzerland’s most remarkable family businesses shared their story at the Global Business Week's World Business Forum

Davos is internationally recognised as a place where leaders discuss the future. Yet some of the most powerful visions of the future are built upon traditions that have survived for generations.

At the World Business Forum held as part of Global Business Week 2026 in Davos, Hans-Martin Heierling and his son, Fadri Noel Heierling, delivered an inspiring presentation about family entrepreneurship, succession, craftsmanship and innovation.

Their appearance represented a particularly meaningful moment for everyone involved in a family business: a father and son standing together as the fourth and fifth generations of a distinguished Swiss entrepreneurial family.

Family businesses are not created for one financial quarter or even one generation. Their greatest strength lies in their ability to transfer knowledge, professional standards, values and responsibility from parents to children.

During the presentation, Hans-Martin Heierling looked at his son with unmistakable enthusiasm, hope and pride. Fadri represents the next generation and is helping to guide the heritage dimension of the family enterprise.

This was more than a presentation about ski boots. It was a living example of succession in action.

The moment illustrated one of the most important principles of sustainable family entrepreneurship: the next generation should not simply inherit a company. It must understand its history, earn the trust of the family and employees, and discover how to reinterpret the business for a changing world.

Oxford researchers are helping upgrade the Large Hadron Collider for opportunity to study the Higgs boson

The Large Hadron Collider Enters a New Era

Far below the border between France and Switzerland, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator has temporarily gone quiet. After years of sending proton beams around its 27-kilometre underground ring and colliding them at almost the speed of light, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has entered an extended shutdown.

The silence, however, does not mean inactivity. Across the enormous underground complex, thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians are removing ageing components, installing advanced systems and carrying out one of the most complex scientific upgrades ever undertaken.

When the machine returns to operation around 2030, it will begin a new chapter as the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider, or HL-LHC. The upgraded accelerator is expected to generate approximately seven times more collision data than the version of the LHC that enabled the discovery of the Higgs boson.

For those who have worked on the project for many years, the shutdown represents far more than a technical pause. It is the transition between two generations of particle physics.

My involvement in the High-Luminosity programme began before the Higgs boson was discovered in 2012. Over almost two decades, I have had the opportunity to contribute to the development of the upgraded collider through work in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

In the US, I served as upgrade coordinator for the Compact Muon Solenoid, known as CMS, one of the principal experiments operating at the LHC. CMS is positioned around one of the locations where two proton beams collide. Its vast and highly sophisticated detector records the particles produced in those collisions, allowing physicists to reconstruct and analyse what occurred.

My role involved helping to coordinate the international effort to prepare CMS for the much more demanding environment of the High-Luminosity collider.

Today, at Oxford, I work with Atlas, another major LHC experiment. Atlas and CMS pursue many of the same scientific questions using independently designed detectors and separate research teams. This duplication is essential: an important discovery made by one experiment must be confirmed by the other before the scientific community can have full confidence in the result.

Our Oxford team is producing silicon pixel detector modules for the upgraded Atlas inner tracking system. These modules will sit close to the point where proton collisions occur and will help record the paths of newly created particles with exceptional accuracy.

Recently, I watched the first complete pixel ring being assembled in Oxford. It was both technically impressive and unexpectedly beautiful: a finely organised structure of silicon sensors, electronics and support materials, representing years of design work, testing, refinement and international cooperation.

For the first time, something that had existed mainly in technical drawings, simulations, prototypes and meeting presentations had become a complete physical object.

Yet our contribution is only one part of a much larger international effort. The upgraded Atlas detector will contain thousands of components designed and produced by institutions around the world. Every element must operate as part of a single system before the HL-LHC can begin exploring the next frontier of particle physics.