Annual Report 2024 2025

Centre for Regions, Trade and Geopolitics During a year when the global landscape experienced tectonic geopolitical and geoeconomic shifts, the centre’s dedication to advancing collaborative solutions to shared challenges has never been more valuable. Maroun Kairouz, Managing Director The centre advances cooperative solutions to global and regional challenges by bringing together governments, international organizations and civil society groups with the Forum’s business partners. It works in three primary areas: regional collaboration, strengthening trade and investment and facilitating global cooperation. Regionally, the centre convenes public- and private-sector stakeholders to address regional economic, environmental and technology priorities. In trade and investment, it promotes open and resilient markets, eases physical, digital and financial flows, and advances sustainable value chains. In geopolitics, the centre provides insight into trends and identifies mechanisms for strengthening global partnerships and effective development and humanitarian action. Throughout the year, the centre organized dialogues and produced key analyses, including the Global Cooperation Barometer 2025, which measures international cooperation, and the report From Blind Spots to Insights: Enhancing Geopolitical Radar to Guide Global Business, offering guidance for businesses navigating geopolitical risks. During the Annual Meeting, the centre convened its inaugural Resilience Consortium Leadership Group and released its fourth report surveying over 250 executives on managing volatility. The Humanitarian and Resilience Investing (HRI) initiative announced an Africa roadmap with the African Development Bank, and secured an additional $300 million in impact investments in frontier markets, adding to existing commitments of $5.6 billion. Other highlights included organizing the Country Strategy Meeting – Argentina, engaging President Javier Milei and over 50 business leaders on national priorities and regional developments. In partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations, the centre launched the Geopolitical Advisory Group, a community of chief geopolitical affairs officers that will meet quarterly. A significant milestone was the launch of the Leaders for European Growth and Competitiveness community, coordinated with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and 35 European CEOs. The group focuses on bolstering the continent’s competitiveness in key industries while strengthening external alliances. Collaborations also included work with Brazil’s G20 Presidency on energy, health, social economy and oceans, and with Colombia’s Presidency of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) on topics such as plastics, food and water, and ocean innovation. On trade, the TradeTech Forum convened more than 300 leaders in April 2025 to work on accelerating the deployment of frontier technologies for global trade and supply chain visibility. The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, marking its 10th year, now operates in 25 project countries, engaging nearly 50 global business partners and 2,000 local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The alliance has simplified trade, saving over $213 million and delivering a 240% return on investment. In Asia-Pacific, the centre continued to work on the ASEAN DEAL initiative to support the advancement of the world’s first such Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA). In South Asia, it partnered with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for India Energy Week 2025, where India reaffirmed its commitment to the Global Biofuels Alliance. In the Middle East, three regional meetings advanced public-private collaboration, including anti-desertification efforts at COP16 in Riyadh. Forum leadership also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to discuss regional developments. In Africa, the centre continued convening the Friends of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) community to accelerate implementation of the trade agreement. In North America, its Dialogue Series convened US industry and union leaders to explore the future of work in technology and advanced manufacturing. Annual Report 2024-2025 Our Organization33