Speaking at the launch of its annual meeting this week, Mr Fink suggested it is time the elite gathering of chief executives and business leaders spread its wings from the Swiss ski resort and held events in cities such as Dublin.
“For 56 years, the World Economic Forum has been synonymous with Davos. And that’s likely to remain true for a while,” he said.
“But you should also see WEF start doing something new: showing up – and listening – in the places where the modern world is actually built. Davos, yes. But also places like Detroit and Dublin, and cities like Jakarta and Buenos Aires.
“The mountain will come down to earth.”
The forum is at a crossroads after its founder, Klaus Schwab, stepped down last April following allegations about governance problems and financial misconduct. He was later cleared of misconduct.
It is now under interim management, with Mr Fink, who is the chairman and chief executive of the investment management company BlackRock, acting as interim co-chair.
This year’s forum has the biggest participation in Davos’ 56-year history, with an estimated 1,000 chief executives and board chairs cramming into the small Swiss resort. They are being joined by about 65 heads of state and government, including the Taoiseach.
US president Donald Trump arrives today, creating an even bigger security headache than is usually the case. Access is another problem, with Davos being miles from anywhere, which means many of the wealthy delegates move in and out by helicopter.
Addressing the gathering on Tuesday, Mr Fink challenged delegates as to whether anyone outside the room even cared about what was being discussed. “Because if we’re being honest, for many people this meeting feels out of step with the moment: elites in an age of populism, an established institution in an era of deep institutional distrust,” he said.
“And there’s truth in that critique.”
If the WEF is going to be useful, it has to regain trust, and that includes widening the conversation, and being more transparent and engaged with people who don’t feel represented.
The forum can’t remain an echo chamber, Mr Fink warned, and it shouldn’t want to have panels where everyone agrees 95pc of the time.
“Many of the people most affected by what we talk about here will never come to this conference. That’s the central tension of this forum: Davos is an elite gathering trying to shape a world that belongs to everyone,” he said.
Raising the possibility of events in other cities, including Dublin, he promised the WEF was going to do more listening.
Senior executives at the forum are actively considering whether it needs to change location, fearing that it has outgrown Davos, according to a report in the Financial Times.
It said Mr Fink has privately discussed options such as moving the WEF permanently from Davos or using venues on a rotational basis. Among the locations discussed are said to have been Detroit and Dublin.
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