It's been called the capitalists' grand ball - but at its best, the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland provides a window on the global economy and the debates that are shaping the financial world.
Three themes emerged this year: global financial reform; the need to underpin the free-market system with a values base; and the power shift away from rich countries to the developing world.
SA's visible presence at Davos underscored the third theme. With one of the largest delegations, combining business and political heavyweights, the effort ensured that SA would continue to punch above its weight in global affairs. The country's contribution to the recent Copenhagen climate change summit was also notable.
Says Michael Spicer, CEO of Business Leadership SA (BLSA) and the convenor of Team SA at Davos: "SA is aware that in a changing, divided and uncertain world, we begin to matter more because we are a proven connector - a bridge not just to Africa, the last great investment frontier, but between old and emerging powers."
Another indication of the steady shift of economic and political power to emerging nations was the new self-confidence of panellists from countries like Vietnam and South Korea. This year South Korea will be the first Asian country to chair and host a G20 summit.
More subtle signs of the power shift were seen in the use of facilities. For instance, the prime chalet opposite the Davos Congress Centre, for years reserved for Microsoft, was yielded this time to CCTV, China's state-run television network. And SA managed to commandeer the chief watering hole, stocking the pub opposite the centre with Vergelegen wines, local beer and biltong.
Planning for SA's big bang at Davos in 2010 began several years ago, when SA was made host country for the 2010 soccer World Cup. The intention was to emulate India's campaign some years back at Davos, when it managed to change the global discourse on new economic powers from being about China to being about both China and India.
To this end, BLSA, the International Marketing Council and the presidency partnered to form Team SA at Davos. For the 13 big SA corporates that sponsored much of SA's participation, it was a way of building bridges with government and getting business's voice heard, which leads to better policy, explains Spicer.
SA participants, including President Jacob Zuma, featured in several sessions. The opening press conference was completely given over to SA's hosting of the World Cup, and the official soiree on the Saturday evening was hosted by SA. And the hottest ticket at Davos was an SA scarf. All 2 500 delegates received one on arrival, so hundreds of people were wearing them in the sub zero temperatures, boosting SA's visibility.
Absa Capital vice-chairman Leslie Maasdorp feels that SA succeeded in doing more than ensuring that people felt well-disposed towards the country. "We were able to project that SA has emerged from the financial crisis and that we've managed remarkably well compared with our peers," he says.
At a conference devoted to the need for global financial reform, SA was able to capitalise on the robustness of its financial sector. In the WEF Global Competitiveness Survey 2009/10, SA is ranked sixth in the world on the soundness of its banking sector, sixth in terms of financial market sophistication (ahead of the US, UK, France and Germany), second in the regulation of securities exchanges, second in the strength of auditing and reporting standards, and fourth in terms of financing through local equity markets.
This doesn't mean that SA banks will escape the reach of the global regulators, particularly reform initiated by the G20 and the Bank of International Settlements' Basel committee. But SA is a leader in the implementation of the Basel 2 banking conventions, and discussions are already under way domestically on that committee's latest recommendations to increase banks' liquidity ratios.
While these recommendations are well supported, US president Barack Obama's recent proposals to prevent banks from proprietary investing drew heated debate.
One panel of economists and industry leaders cautioned policy makers against responding to populist concerns by focusing on peripheral problems in the financial sector, such as compensation and bonuses, rather than the more important issues relating to transparency and risk management.
The message from the bruised US banking sector was that heavy-handed, unco-ordinated financial regulation could be a threat to global recovery.
SA's national planning minister, Trevor Manuel, believes the lack of co-ordinated reform does pose some real difficulties: "I'm not sure whether these issues are driven more by domestic political considerations than by global ones, but it's weakening the ability to pull together."
He predicts that the lack of co-ordination will result in banks going "residence shopping" as they seek to domicile themselves where regulation is softest. This may present as "a race to the bottom" in tax terms. "There's a huge arbitrage opportunity that will be exploited," he warns.
Manuel also detected a "complacent mood" at Davos, though there are still plenty of risks that could trip up the global recovery.
Speaking at Davos, economics professor Nouriel Roubini, also known as Doctor Doom for correctly predicting the severity of the global crisis, warned that while he expects the recovery to be U-shaped, there is still a risk of a double-dip recession.
WHAT IT MEANS
 Business support can lead to better policy
Risk of incoherence in global reforms
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He argues that China alone cannot be the locomotive of global growth, especially now that its export-led growth is challenged by the fact that countries like the US are importing less.
This view was echoed by French president Nicolas Sarkozy in his opening address, when he said it would not be possible to emerge from the global crisis and protect against repetitions if the economic imbalances that are at the root of the problem are not addressed.
"Countries with trade surpluses must consume more and improve the living standards and social protection of their citizens," he remarked. "Countries with deficits must make an effort to consume a little less and repay their debts."
Sarkozy also called for an examination of the nature of the free market, saying: "Capitalism should not be replaced but it has to be changed. We will save capitalism only by reforming it, by making it more moral."
Over two-thirds of people believe the current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values, according to a WEF study released just before the Davos meeting.
"We'll drive ourselves over a cliff if we carry on like before," adds Maasdorp. "The tyranny of short-term quarterly reports has driven a lot of risk-taking and greed. You can't ignore long-term sustainability. The market system needs to be underpinned by something more than the blind commitment to profits."
Nobody pretends that these worthy goals - like the need for multilateral co-ordination, the balancing of the global economy and injecting morality into the free market system - won't be hard to achieve. But at least at Davos, the policy makers seemed to inch a bit closer to making the world a better place.
