Leaders and chief executives highlighted their plans and concerns over economic growth due to impending recession fears at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

UAE’s Minister for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi said that the emirate is in early talks with India and China on settling non-oil commodity trade in local currencies.

Saudi Arabia, which has made a bid to host the Expo 2030 world fair, is pushing ahead with plans to turn its capital Riyadh into a major global metropolis, said Royal Commission for Riyadh City CEO Fahd Al-Rasheed

On the energy front, International Energy Agency (IEA) IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said that markets could be tighter in 2023.

The Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr meanwhile said the Asian state’s economy would resist global recessionary headwinds.

Zawya has compiled all the updates from Davos.

UAE and India discussing settling non-oil trade in rupees

The UAE is in early discussions with India to trade non-oil commodities in Indian rupees, Minister for Foreign Trade Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi said.

The minister said other countries, including China, have also raised the issue of settling non-oil trade payments in local currencies.

Riyadh city developing fast with eye on Expo 2030 bid

Saudi Arabia, which has made a bid to host the Expo 2030 world fair, is pushing ahead with plans to turn its capital Riyadh into a major global metropolis, a government official said.

Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO of Royal Commission for Riyadh City, said the kingdom’s $8 billion bill to build the Expo site paled in comparison to the $400 billion of construction investment currently in the city of eight million people.

Saudi Arabia taps unconventional sectors for jobs

Saudi Arabia’s economy minister said that the kingdom will continue to tap into non-traditional sectors such as entertainment and esports to create jobs, boost the quality of life and lure talent.

"In the past, these were seen as hopeful byproducts of an economic transformation. Today, they are seen as master ingredients for an optimum economic transformation," minister Faisal Al-Ibrahim said.

Marcos says Philippines to resist 'recessionary forces'

The Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the Asian state’s economy would resist global recessionary headwinds, but warned that increasing tensions in the South China Sea were harming trade.

Marcos was bullishabout the country’s economic prospects, which has been dominated by talks of an impending global recession brought on by the cost-of-living and energy crises.

IEA's Birol expects tighter energy markets in 2023

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that energy markets could be tighter in 2023, adding he hoped prices would not rise further in order to protect energy-importing developing countries facing gloomy economic outlooks.

"I wouldn't be too relaxed about the markets and 2023 may well be a year where we see tighter markets than some colleagues may think," stated IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

Egypt sees high demand from investors after currency drop- minister

Egypt is seeing good investor appetite for stakes in its state-owned enterprises, the country's planning minister said, as the government pursues partial privatisations to drum up funds after a sharp fall in the value of its currency.

"There is a lot of appetite to the Egyptian economy. I think definitely the stock market is at its best now," she said.

IMF's Gopinath says China recovery could be very quick

China could see a sharp recovery in economic growth from the second quarter onwards based on current infection trends after the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions, IMF deputy managing director Gita Gopinath said.

“We expect growth in China to come back, to rebound,” Gopinath noted.

Germany’s Scholz upbeat on energy, warns on deglobalisation

Germany’s energy supply for this winter is secure, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, adding that the ability of Europe’s largest economy to swiftly wean itself off Russian gas has shown how flexible and speedy it can be.

He highlighted efforts to get over the energy crisis unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the swift creation of liquid natural gas terminals.

WTO's Ngozi warns to be careful on 'friend-shoring'

Trade blocs seeking to skirt geopolitical risk by "friend-shoring" activities to like-minded countries should be careful which commerce partners they favour, World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said.

Okonjo-Iweala urged caution, citing the need to explore trade opportunities more widely with those countries and regions that until now have been left on the margins of world trade.

LME says nickel reforms to be implemented 'relatively quickly'

The London Metal Exchange (LME) will implement recommendations on accountability and position limits "relatively quickly" from an independent review of last year's nickel crisis to prevent market distortions and improve risk monitoring, its chief executive officer said.

"The recommendations around accountability levels and position limits are particularly important, are broadly rules-based, so could be brought about quite quickly," LME CEO Matthew Chamberlain noted.

South Korea's Yoon calls for strengthening resilience of global supply chains

South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol called for strengthening the resilience of global supply chains, describing it as one of the most urgent tasks facing the international community.

He added that the war in Ukraine had further disturbed the stability of supply chains following the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABB aims for 5-10 small-to-medium acquisitions a year

Heavy electrical company ABB Ltd Chairman Peter Voser sees his firm acquiring between five to 10 small-to-medium enterprises a year to add to the company’s organic business.

“Each division of ABB should be active in organic and inorganic strategies, which would see ABB acquiring between five to 10 small-to-medium business every year,” Voser said, expecting to spend under $1 billion to buy targets.

Uber not planning any company-wide layoffs, says CEO

Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said that he’s not currently planning any company-wide layoffs.

The rideshare and delivery company has worked to cut costs for months, early enough relative to others that a memo the CEO wrote on this tougher stance "landed a bit like a lead balloon initially," Khosrowshahi said.

Goldman Sachs to hire selectively after job cuts

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s international head says that the bank’s recent job cuts have resized its footprint for the current economic environment and it will continue to hire at all levels of the firm.

“We’ve sized the firm to suit what we think the outlook will be,” Richard Gnodde said in a Bloomberg Television interview.