At the Davos Summit, it is said that globalization is approaching its end for different reasons. It is reported that the important trends of the last 30 years such as ‘outsourcing’ and ‘offshoring’ have been replaced by new trends such as ‘onshoring’, ‘friendshoring’, ‘renationalization’ and ‘regionalization’.
At the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos Summit, which is held face-to-face for the first time in two years, businessmen and investors say that “the process of globalization that has been going on for the last 30 years may be coming to an end.” Important businessmen who made statements to the Financial Times at the summit said that the Ukrainian war has further compressed the supply chains already disrupted by the pandemic, and that the recent turbulence in the markets and the rapidly deteriorating economic outlook will expose company executives and investors to some strategic but difficult decisions.
According to José Manuel Barrosso, president of the US investment bank Goldman Sachs International and former chairman of the European Commission, tensions between the US and China accelerated by the pandemic and accelerated by the Ukraine war, all raising serious concerns about a world of severed ties and dissociation.
Charles Kaye, CEO of Warburg Pincus, which manages $80 billion in assets, said: “Almost no one has seen similar conditions in their investment career,” adding that geopolitics has not been at the heart of the economy since the fall of the Berlin Wall, but that today geopolitics is again at the center of investment decisions.
Onshoring, friendshoring, nationalization on the rise
‘Onshoring’, ‘renationalisation’ and ‘regionalisation’ are the latest trends on the agenda of companies. The sanctions imposed on Russia and the expressions ‘friend’ and ‘enemy’ countries, which Russia also used from its reprisals, also brought up the term ‘friendshoring’ (shifting production to friendly countries) in English. Goldman Sachs President Barosso said that “nationalism, protectionism, indigenousness, chauvinism, and sometimes even xenophobia are detrimental to globalization,” adding, “I don’t think it’s clear yet who will win.”
Zelensky: Let the company that left Russia come to us
At a special session at the Davos Summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on companies to his country, saying, “Any company that leaves Russia can enter the Ukrainian market, companies will benefit from it by fully supporting freedom.” Speaking at the session, moderated by WEF Founding Chairman Klaus Schwab, Zelensky stressed that sanctions against Russia were inadequate and called for ‘maximum’ sanctions – including an oil embargo and the complete withdrawal of foreign companies from Russia.
