WEF founder invites PH to join technological collaboration center

ZURICH, Switzerland — World Economic Forum (WEF) founder and executive chairman Professor Klaus Schwab invited the Philippines to join a center the WEF is establishing, which is geared at working and sharing the newest technologies that could help countries develop economically.

Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Schwab extended the invitation to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. during their meeting in Davos on Tuesday.

In a statement, Garafil said Schwab thought there was a lot of excitement and engagement in the forum, and the WEF wants to reinforce cooperation by creating a center for collaboration on new technologies.

According to Schwab, the organization now has several service centers working on the newest technologies like artificial intelligence.

"And the idea is to share their own experience. It's always in support of technology," Schwab reportedly said.

Schwab cited India as an example of WEF applying the newest technologies to increase agricultural activity.

The WEF founder explained that the organization also has a center in San Francisco that looks into crypto and blockchain.

Currently, Schwab said there's a lot of discussion on the internet on three-dimensional, virtual interaction communities combined with artificial intelligence, which encouraged WEF to develop a global collaboration platform.

"We have all the representations of some countries, of companies, and you can interact every time," he added.

Schwab told President Marcos that the WEF would invite the Philippines to be present when the organization inaugurates the platform.

"When we inaugurate it, we will invite the Philippines to be amongst the first countries to have a... we call it a residence where you can showcase your investment opportunities in a much more effective manner compared to video conferencing because you bring people in the next of what's happening," he said.

"So when you have, for example, energy transformation, the creation of clean fuel, or you can show, you can take someone that can guide you along," he added.

"This will be the technology of the future which will be applied very much also in education, in healthcare, because you can have a consultation," he explained.

The President said he would task the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to engage with the WEF as it hands over materials to the Philippines as a starting point.

President Marcos is in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the WEF's annual event, where he showcased the Philippines' economic feat as well as articulated the administration's vision as it steers the country toward recovery following the crippling impact of the coronavirus pandemic.