São Paulo – The World Economic Forum is held annually in Switzerland, with regional editions in other countries, and aims to discuss the world economy. But the organizers of the event also announce a list of people that they believe will be the new global leaders, in any field of knowledge. This year’s edition of Young Global Leaders features 190 names from 65 countries in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. They have been selected among 5,000 candidates by a committee presided by Queen Rania from Jordan.
A highlight among the Arabs is the Kuwaiti Naif Al Mutawa, creator of comic superhero group The 99 – among them the character Hafiz, the Conservationist, who was born in the Amazon. The number in the title is a reference to 99 magic stones. Each of the stones grants its owner one of the 99 powers of God as described in the Koran.
In an interview to ANBA in September 2010, Mutawa stated that promoting dialogue between East and West was one of his reasons for creating The 99.
According to the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, the challenges facing the next generation of leaders are huge and can no longer be addressed using current methods, companies and thinking. "These challenges require new thinking, the ability to act in multiple fronts and develop new solutions," he claimed.
Three Saudis have also been named young global leaders of 2011. Such is the case with Loulwa M. Bakr, director of the Credit Suisse bank in Saudi Arabia. The list includes four names from the United Arab Emirates. Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon and Qatar have one name each. Egypt is represented by a diplomat, Tamim Kallaf.
Brazilian
The only Brazilian selected by the World Economic Growth Forum Wolff Klabin. He is the heir of the Klabin group, one of the country’s leading paper manufacturers. Other people selected as global leaders are the Ukrainian Max Levchin, vice president for Engineering at Google, and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
