🌍 The latest from Summer Davos

Hi there Intriguer. Briefings at the Pentagon aren’t typically a laughing matter. But it’s hard to keep a straight face when someone compares the movements of a notorious Russian mercenary with the cult 1980s comedy, Weekend at Bernie’s.

Today’s briefing is a 4 min read:

• 💼 China hosts Summer Davos.

• 🏦 Central bankers are on high alert.

• ➕ Plus: One of the world’s biggest mass migration events, how the papers are covering a new deforestation report, and why folks in Japan are googling the recipe for water kimchi.

1. 🇯🇵 Japan: Tokyo has announced it’ll restore South Korea to Japan’s list of preferred export destinations from 21 July, removing the final trade barrier imposed during a years-long dispute. South Korea welcomed the move, saying it’ll help firms in both countries.

2. 🇱🇹 Lithuania: Berlin has said Germany will permanently station 4,000 troops in Lithuania to help secure NATO’s eastern front. Lithuania, which borders the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, has repeatedly requested a permanent German military presence.

3. 🇲🇲 Myanmar: Local authorities burned a record $446M in illegal seized drugs to mark International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (Monday). Myanmar has become a global hub for synthetic drugs.

4. 🇲🇽 Mexico: Mexico has begun imposing a 50% tariff on imported white corn in an effort to protect its own producers and prevent the importation of GMO corn. The US and Canada have already opened a dispute process against Mexico’s GMO rules.

5. 🇨🇫 Central African Republic: Russia’s foreign minister has said the mercenary Wagner Group will continue to operate in countries such as the Central African Republic and Mali, despite its mutiny in Russia over the weekend.

💼 World Economic Forum | Diplomacy

Summer Davos kicks off in China

1,500 government folks, business leaders and technocrats have descended on the Chinese port city of Tianjin for a World Economic Forum conference this week. It’s the conference’s first in-person appearance in four years.

Many smaller economies see this Annual Meeting of the New Champions, aka ‘Summer Davos’, as an opportunity for a bit of that sweet, sweet limelight, which is often dominated by bigger players at regular Davos.

Some of the notable moments so far this year include:

1. 🇨🇳 Chinese Premier Li Qiang criticising the West’s ‘de-risking’ from China, and urging companies to make their own decisions instead.

2. 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia sending one of the largest delegations of any country, potentially reflecting its warmer ties with Beijing (though the Saudis often ‘roll deep’ like this).

3. 🥝 New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visiting a local store to sample one of the ~1.5 billion kiwifruit his country exports to China each year. These media moments are often aimed at audiences back home (Hipkins faces an election in October).

Intrigue's take: If you weren’t even aware of a ‘Summer Davos’, you’re not alone. It’s a bit of a ‘Davos lite’ in terms of size, prestige, and profile.

But as with any summit, the real value is often backstage: delegates hold endless meetings, sign deals, and propose new ones. Plus for China, still struggling to kickstart its post-COVID economy, playing host is an opportunity to (again) tell the world that it’s open for business.

Also worth noting:

• In 2021, Tianjin fell out of the top 10 Chinese cities measured by GDP, having been ranked as high as sixth in 2017.

• The kiwifruit is native to China (not New Zealand). The principal of an all-girls school brought the first seeds to New Zealand in 1904.

📰 How newspapers covered…

A new study finding that deforestation has increased despite conservation pledges

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🏦 Global finance | Geo-economics

Is a global economic crisis looming?

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), aka the ‘bank for central banks’, has warned that the global economy is at a critical juncture.

Launching his annual report, BIS chief Agustin Carstens said the task for central banks was clear: raise rates until inflation cools. But his message to governments was more blunt: stop “obsessively [pursuing] short term growth”.

Why? Carstens says if governments don’t rein in spending and/or raise taxes, we run the risk of persistent inflation, financial instability, and even a recession.

Intrigue’s take: Sheesh. Way to kill the buzz, Carstens.

But he does offer us a glimpse of hope, saying there’s a sense the economy can still achieve a “soft-ish” landing. It’ll just require some tough choices: which spending to cut, which taxes to raise, and by how much?

That’s probably why he ends his speech calling for “a degree of courage”.

Also worth noting:

• Carstens was previously Mexico’s central bank chief for eight years.

• In 2022, the world spent $13T on interest payments (14.5% of global GDP); most expect that figure to rise this year.

🎧 Today on Intrigue Outloud

Are Armenia and Azerbaijan about to resolve their decades-long land dispute?

➕ Extra Intrigue

Here’s what folks around the world googled yesterday, Tuesday 27 June:

• Searches for ‘Tornado’ peaked in 🇨🇦 Canada after a severe storm swept through Windsor, Ontario.

• People in 🇯🇵 Japan googled the recipe for ‘水キムチ’ (Water Kimchi) as temperatures rose across the nation.

• And in 🇹🇷 Turkey, folks searched for ‘İhlas suresi’ (the 112th Chapter of the Quran) ahead of Eid ul Adha celebrations this week.

🗳️ Poll time!

📸 Photo of the day

Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, kicked off this week without Covid restrictions for the first time since 2019. Revenues from the Hajj and other religious tourism are Saudi Arabia’s second-biggest income source after hydrocarbons.

Yesterday’s poll: If you had a magic wand to fix world problems, which would you address first?

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🍎 Hunger (11%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🚷 Discrimination (3%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🚰 Water scarcity (10%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🎒 Education (12%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🌱 Climate change (31%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🔫 Violence and conflict (15%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💸 Poverty (12%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!) (6%)

Your two cents:

• 🌱 J.L: “It's about survival babyyyyy.”

• 💸 G: “Addressing wealth inequality seems likely to have more consequential long-term impacts on all or nearly all of the other problems on this list than addressing any single issue independently.”

• ✍️ R.D: “Complete nuclear weapons disarmament.”