The writer is executive chairman of Ant Financial, which operates Alipay
This time last year I met Asian, African, European, and American business leaders in Davos to discuss working together to make finance more inclusive. We were sincere and optimistic that our partnerships would help uncover the best solutions for the world’s underserved populations.
Events since then have given people some cause to be less positive about global partnerships. Geopolitical and trade tensions have led to depressing predictions that the world will become more polarised and that technology will be shaped by competition rather than collaboration. A mood of mistrust is spreading.