In the past, WEF meetings have paved the way for the launch of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) Uruguay Round, from which the World Trade Organization (WTO) was born, and for the launch of the North American Free Trade Agreement. These were milestones in the global liberalization process, each time guaranteeing new and easier market access for the transnational corporations in the WEF.

The annual meeting takes place for the most part with the public excluded: the WEF itself decides which media representatives are allowed inside its annual meeting. Free access to all the meetings is granted only to those who belong to the WEF-club of "World Media Leaders." Besides this lack of transparency, our nonprofit watchdog group, "The Public Eye on Davos," complains about the fact that only a few critical voices are heard inside the WEF annual meeting. It is far from being a balanced platform where all stakeholders are represented; thus, among the almost 3000 participants at the annual meeting there are only fifty representatives of NGOs present. The topics and the rules of the game are all decreed by the WEF.

Seen in the face of this, the alleged multi-stakeholder approach and the WEF's self-imposed obligation to be "committed to improving the state of the world" remains an empty promise. Essentially, the WEF remains completely committed to the credo of neo-liberalism, according to which opening up world markets and following policies of unrestricted expansion presents an effective panacea for global challenges such as poverty. This illusion flies in the face of the experience of past decades: whilst the North and its transnational corporations have profited from this economic policy, world poverty was not able to be reduced and the gap between rich and poor has become even bigger.

In November 2001 the WEF decided to transfer its conference temporarily from Davos to New York. According to the WEF, this decision is to be understood as a sign of solidarity with the city that was hit by terrorist attacks -- a solidarity that so far has been sadly lacking on the part of the WEF as far as those who are on the losing side of globalisation are concerned.

"The Public Eye on Davos" is a joint initiative of NGOs from various countries worldwide and from all the continents. The project aims to provide informed criticism of the WEF and the neoliberal policies it promotes as well as to challenge corporate-driven globalization. The Public Eye demands that international economic policies are discussed in public, transparent and democratically legitimate platforms, instead in the WEF. It campaigns for legally binding regulation of transnational corporations on a global level in order to effectively protect human rights and the environment.

"The Public Eye on Davos" is also the name of an international conference that takes place during the same period as the WEF annual meeting since the year 2000. The Public Eye conference 2002 will take place in New York City, in the UN church center (opposite the UN headquarters), not very far from the Hotel Waldorf=Astoria, where the WEF will convene for its annual meeting.

Topics of the counter-conference will be the negative affects caused by one-sided economic globalisation. In addition, representatives from countries of both South and North will propose alternatives which are aimed at bringing about more democratic decision-making structures at international level, and more equitable and ecologically sustainable economic development.