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WEF: We hear protests
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February 3, 2002: 11:03 p.m. ET
Conference participants say they're sympathetic to critics' concerns.
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NEW YORK (CNNmoney) - Attendees of the World Economic Forum may not have clearly heard the chants and drum pounding of demonstrations taking place blocks away from the conference venue, but at least some of the protesters' message managed to make it through.
"Some of the activities that we engage in put you in a position where you can truly understand some of their points of view," said David Komansky, the chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch, one of the world's largest investment banking firms.
As it has in the past, this year's forum -- held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in midtown Manhattan -- drew thousands of protesters. Some cried out against corporate globalization, others against low-paid labor in developing countries.
But to virtually all of them, big business is the adversary. And the top executives of the world's largest corporations have gathered at the event -- referred to as Davos, for the Swiss ski resort town where it historically has been held -- for more than 30 years, making it a natural target for protests.
There have been several demonstrations at this year's event, the largest of which were held Saturday. And with the exception of a few isolated incidents, most of them were peaceful. Many of the protesters represent what has been called an "anti-globalization" movement that believes the rise of multinational corporations is only benefiting the rich while bringing oppression and instability to the developing world.
During a panel discussion on the changing role of business on the world stage Sunday evening, Merrill's Komansky argued that critics don't always understand the balance large corporations need to strike when doing business in developing countries.
As an example, he talked about a major state-owned oil company in a large developing country that the government asked Merrill's help to privatize. The company, which he did not name, had roughly 1 million employees. After doing the analysis, he said the firm determined that by putting together the most profitable structure for the company, it would be left with only about 200,000 employees.
"If this particular company and this particular country does not join the modern economy, it stands every risk of being left behind," Komansky said. "But clearly, if it did it in a thoughtless way and tried to meet this demand of the market immediately, it would have created chaos."
"When you think about that, and you line it up with the thoughts of some of the demonstrators and some of the things that we've seen, perhaps you can get some kind of an idea that there are two sides to this story," he said.
Bill Gates, the chairman and co-founder of Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software company, called the presence of demonstrators in the street a "healthy sign."
Gates is the richest man in the world, amassing his fortune from the success of Microsoft, the dominant supplier of computer operating systems. He and his wife, Melinda, also are among the world's top philanthropists, creating $24 billion charitable fund whose main purpose is to bridge the disparity in health care between poor and rich countries.
"If there's anything that can be drawn from [the presence of large numbers of demonstrators], it's the question of whether the rich world is giving back enough in setting the terms of trade, health resource or whatever, so that we're reaching out enough to the world at large," Gates said. "And I think there are some legitimate questions about whether more should be done there," he added.
On Saturday at the World Economic Forum, Gates announced that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had awarded new grants totaling $50 million to advance efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS in Africa. 
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