World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024

Li Qiang said technological innovations should not be used as a means to restrict or contain other countries.

“To keep competition healthy and bring out the greatest vitality, the only way is to strengthen cooperation,” Li said on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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—Evelyn Cheng

2024 will be a “mixed year” for investing, and the picture is set to improve in the second half of the year, EY CEO Carmine Di Sibio told CNBC in Davos, Switzerland.

“We believe that things will improve in the latter part of the year,” he said, stressing that “from now until June, things will remain difficult.”

In the same tone, he played down a notable blowout at the end of 2023, noting that “some of the stock markets were a little bullish, just before Christmas, because I think there's still some time to go.”

The macroeconomic outlook remains guided by uncertainty about when central banks will start cutting interest rates, after several months of hikes in response to rising inflation. Di Sibio noted that once the expected interest rate cuts become “final,” the company’s clients will resume higher investments, anticipating that “things will change globally.”

He also recognized that geopolitical factors impact the business landscape, including supply chain concerns.

— Roxandra Iordas

Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said markets expected there would be rate cuts, and added that she would be “a little concerned” about doing so too early, speaking to a panel moderated by CNBC in Davos.

Friedman added that the Fed will likely want to reach a state of stability before it takes significant steps.

UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri reiterated Abu Dhabi's intentions to achieve economic growth of 7% of national GDP in 2024, with a focus on expanding the country's revenue sources.

“In terms of non-oil GDP, we are already at over 5% and are already diversifying our economy,” he told CNBC in Davos, Switzerland. Traditionally reliant on sales of crude oil and petroleum products, the UAE has embarked on an ambitious journey to amplify its economy and achieve a targeted GDP of 3 trillion dirhams ($817 billion) by 2030.

Al Marri pointed to the efforts made by Abu Dhabi over the past three years to liberalize the corporate law and grant full 100% ownership to foreign stakeholders, in addition to revamping the country’s visa system to attract global investors.

— Roxandra Iordas

Valuations of some private companies are “deteriorating again,” according to Cisco's CEO.

Valuations of companies focused on new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, have returned to the peaks seen during the low interest rate environment of the pandemic, Chuck Robbins said.

“When you come in [generative] “AI and some of these other things, we're seeing some private valuations deteriorate again,” he said during a panel discussion moderated by CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“It's ironic to me that we're doing this so quickly after what we saw 48 months ago. It's unbelievable,” he said.

– Karen Gilchrist

Nasdaq Chairman and CEO Adina Friedman said the market for initial public offerings could “open up again” as investors gain confidence in the second half of the year.

“What's happening in the markets? — As a result of this idea that there may be a lower cost of capital as the year goes on — “It's so that investors can start thinking about how the company's earnings model again,” she said, speaking on a panel moderated by CNBC.

Friedman added that while last year's market performance was “very heavy,” the broader market including small caps is starting to see improving valuations.

“They know that the cost of capital is likely to be stable or low in the future, and I think this will also interest investors who want to put risk capital into play which means IPOs… We could actually have an open IPO market,” she said. : “Backup again.”

Friedman added that about 85 companies have applied for an IPO on Nasdaq and wish to offer their shares for public offering, with activity concentrated in the second quarter.

-Lucy Handley

It's too early to conclude that central banks will cut interest rates “aggressively” this year, according to Gita Gopinath, the IMF's first deputy managing director, who spoke on CNBC's “High Rate Reality” panel in Davos.

She added that despite the decline in inflation, “the mission is not complete,” with labor markets in the United States and Europe tightening. The International Monetary Fund expects interest rates to fall in the second half of the year.

Compared to the period following the global financial crisis in 2008, Gopinath said she expects interest rates to be higher in the next three to four years.

-Lucy Handley

French Central Bank President François Villeroy de Galhau stressed that it is not possible to determine the season in which the European Central Bank may cut interest rates this year.

“About the season, why don’t I say anything? I said it should be this year, barring major surprises,” he said during a panel moderated by CNBC. “But… we don’t rely on the calendar, we rely on the data.” During the World Economic Forum activities in Davos, Switzerland.

Regarding the path of inflation, he added: “It is too early to declare victory… the task is not yet complete. However, the tightening of interest rates has been very successful so far, and more successful than we imagined even in Davos one year ago.”

“What we can see on both sides of the Atlantic is a soft landing so far.”

Portuguese central bank governor Mario Centeno said on Tuesday that inflation in the euro zone is on a “very positive” path, although his counterparts on the European Central Bank's Governing Council have taken a more hawkish tone in recent days.

“We are still data-driven, and that is how we frame our decisions… One of the greatest successes of the ECB recently is its ability to hold medium-term inflation expectations at 2%, and this is because we have credibility, we have credibility,” Centeno said. “Let it stay that way.”

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— Jenny Reed

Join CNBC at 7.15am UK time where presenter Steve Sedgwick will moderate a panel discussion on “The Reality of High Rates” with guests Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq, and Gita Gopinath, Senior Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). , and chuck. Robins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco, and François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.

The European Central Bank may delay the start of interest rate cuts in 2024, which would upend market expectations, with Governing Council member Robert Holzmann saying on Monday that those who had hoped for interest rate cuts to start this spring will leave Davos “feeling deeply disappointed.” .

The committee will talk about whether higher interest rates will become the “new normal” and what that means for markets.

Headline inflation rose to 2.9% in the euro zone in December, compared to 2.4% the previous month. The European Central Bank targets inflation at 2%.

— Lucy Handley