JUDY WOODRUFF: A small town in
the Swiss Alps becomes a focus
of world attention one week

a year.

Davos hosts the World Economic
Forum, with a rarefied guest
list of business tycoons,

prime ministers, and this year,
for the first time in nearly
two decades, the president

of the United States.

Special correspondent Ryan
Chilcote is there for us and
has our look at this most alpine

of summits.

RYAN CHILCOTE: The heaviest
snowfall in two decades, six
feet dropped on the Swiss Alps

in less than a week, didn't
stop the World Economic
Forum from getting under way.

No, the main challenge for many
of the 3,000 movers, shakers,
scribes and gawkers, just

getting here.

WOMAN: No, I have never seen
anything like this before.

MARI SAWAI, Davos: It's
a bit of a struggle.

I didn't even bring snow boots,
so I'm trying not to fall.

RYAN CHILCOTE: This year's
official theme is creating a
shared future in a fractured

world.

Klaus Schwab is the forum's
founder, now in its 48th year.

KLAUS SCHWAB, Founder,
World Economic Forum: The
world is socially fractured.

It's environmentally fractured.

But it's also
politically divided.

So, what we want to do here is
analyze, what are the reasons.

But what is much more
important is to afterwards
search for solutions.

RYAN CHILCOTE: The elite
annual gathering is being
held under tight security.

There are some 70 heads
of state there, hobnobbing
with titans of industry
and academia, celebrities

and advocates.

There's really
nothing quite like it.

In my first hour here,
I bumped into the head
of one of the world's
largest jewelry companies,

an entrepreneur starting his
own cryptocurrency, and the head
of a Brazilian biotech firm.

Davos is where legacy businesses
meet the disrupters, where
developing and developed

countries come together
to network, to learn
from one another and,
of course, to do deals.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's opening address called
on countries to unite, while

ignoring some of his country's
own protectionist policies.

NARENDRA MODI, Indian Prime
Minister (through translator):
Many societies and countries

are becoming more and more
focused on themselves.

It feels like the opposite of
globalization is happening.

We will have to accept the
fact that globalization is
slowly losing it luster.

RYAN CHILCOTE: The four-day
meeting aims to tackle a number
of pressing geopolitical issues,

in addition to globalization,
climate change, the migrant
crisis, and gender equality.

Canada's prime minister,
Justin Trudeau:

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, Canadian Prime
Minister: We need to have a
critical discussion on women's

rights, equality and the
power dynamics of gender.

RYAN CHILCOTE: Global inequality
is another major topic, said
Christine Lagarde, the managing

director of the
International Monetary Fund.

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, Managing
Director, International
Monetary Fund: There are
still too many people

who are left out of
that recovery and
acceleration of growth.

RYAN CHILCOTE: The week's most
anticipated speaker is perhaps
its unlikeliest, President

Trump, who'll be rubbing elbows
with the very same folks he
berated on the campaign trail.

DONALD TRUMP, President
of the United States:
This wave of globalization
has wiped out totally,

totally our middle class.

RYAN CHILCOTE: It's the first
time a sitting U.S. president
has attended the forum since

Bill Clinton in 2000.

Mr. Trump is bringing
much of his team here.

Top White House advisers
previewed the trip yesterday,
and were asked, in essence, why

he's going to a forum
that goes against his
America first agenda.

Economic adviser Gary Cohn:

GARY COHN, Presidential
Economic Adviser: America
first is not America alone.

The president is going to
Davos to speak to world leaders
about investing in the United

States, moving businesses
to the United States,
hiring American workers.

RYAN CHILCOTE: President Trump
won't be welcomed by everyone.

Protesters routinely
blast the invitation-only
conference, arguing it's
an unabashed celebration

of capitalism gone awry.

ALEX HEDINGER, Protester:
We have been protesting
all the years now against
the World Economic

Forum, and if Trump comes
or not, we don't care.

Trump is just -- maybe he's
the best symbol for this world.

RYAN CHILCOTE: President Trump
gets the final word when he
delivers the closing address

on Friday.

For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Ryan Chilcote in Davos.