Business leaders gathering in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos have made it a top priority to reshape the global economy. Survey shows that with the worst of the global financial crisis behind them, the world’s corporate leaders are gradually switching from survival mode to growth mode.

The mood’s lighter this year at Davos. There’s a promising outlook on global growth. And Matt Damon, gently poking fun at the proceedings with a mock film awards speech.

"And then I get a big kiss from Bono. Anyway, I don’t know, I’ll do that next year maybe," said Matt Damon, actor and co-founder of Water.org.

The Hollywood star was getting an award - for work towards providing clean, safe water in developing countries. Just one theme among many but with the focus very firmly on recovery.

A PwC survey shows 44 per cent of business leaders see the economy picking up this year, up from 18 per cent the year before.

Though there’s still a way to go for the world’s financial system. John Lipsky is a former IMF executive turned foreign policy expert at Johns Hopkins.

"It’s not performing adequately, especially true in the euro zone where the recapitalisation and cleaning the bank balance sheet remains incomplete and more action is needed," he said.

There’s talk that old-world, developed economies, the U.S. Britain, Germany and Japan - will be the new locomotives of growth. Eclipsing Brazil and other emerging markets, as the boom in commodities, the so-called ’commodities super-cyle’ that has so boosted their economies, splutters to a halt. Stephen Wieting of Citi.

"These markets which are again in many cases external borrowers now with current account deficits, these are markets that are more vulnerable towards savings outflows, particularly portfolio outflows from international investors," he said.

And government debt should still have its place at the top table of global concerns, according to Stephen Pagliuca of Bain Capital.

"If we keep borrowing, and we keep building up, you know, bigger and bigger deficits for the future generations to pay back, at some point that’s going to hurt us. And it’s going to be great until it isn’t. You know the situation in Greece, one day you’re sipping ouzo on the beach, the next day there’s a financial crisis," he said.

And though growth might be on the upturn, one of the biggest Davos concerns of them all is unemployment - reportedly up five million last year, meaning over 200 million people around the world have no job.