Cooperation on trade shows resilience in a contested world

Dialogue is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

“Dialogue is not a luxury, it’s a necessity – [and] the prerequisite for cooperation,” said Børge Brende, President and CEO of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the launch of the Forum’s flagship report in Davos, the Global Cooperation Barometer 2026.

We expect this to frame many of the conversations at this year’s Annual Meeting, where public and private sector leaders from around the world, including from DP World, have arrived for discussions under the theme, ‘A Spirit of Dialogue’.  

The meeting comes at a moment when global cooperation, judged from headlines alone, appears under strain. Yet, on the ground at Davos, the starting position is more nuanced, particularly when viewed through the lens of global trade.

From multilateral frameworks to pragmatic models

WEF’s Global Cooperation Barometer paints a picture of trade in a “state of evolution”, as McKinsey’s global managing partner Bob Sternfels noted at the report launch. Cooperation on trade has remained surprisingly resilient over the past year but traditional multilateralism has weakened. In this new reality, cooperation on trade is more bespoke and interest-led, with a clear rise in friendshoring as a preferred strategy.

Launched today, the DP World Global Trade Observatory Annual Outlook Report reinforces this shift. 53% of the 3,500-supply chain and logistics leaders surveyed say they are braced for high or very high policy uncertainty, while 47% expect trade barriers to rise. Despite this, business confidence remains high: 94% of respondents expect trade growth in 2026 to match or exceed the record levels of 2025.

This is underpinned by a “different ways of trading”, something Brende referred to and that’s also visible in our data. According to our survey, 46% of executives see new markets and consumers among their top growth drivers in 2026, with decisions driven primarily by cost savings, connectivity and clearance efficiency rather than geopolitics alone. This has accelerated a shift towards smaller, ‘‘minilateral’’ approaches, including regional partnerships and corridor-based initiatives that are easier to adapt as conditions change.

When cooperation depends on capabilityThere are limits, however. Early discussions in Davos on climate change, energy and technology will underline the same constraint: cooperation only delivers lasting results when it is supported by sufficient energy, infrastructure and digital capability. Where those foundations are weak, alignment alone is not enough.

This is where DP World operates day to day. 

Our role is to reduce friction, strengthening connectivity and supporting the practical conditions that allow cooperation to function at scale. In a contested world, that operational focus often matters more than frameworks alone.

Davos has only just begun, but the tone of discussions so far is more grounded in a difficult reality. Whether this pragmatic model of cooperation can scale fast enough to keep pace with disruption will shape how global trade evolves in the years ahead.