The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced on Tuesday that its annual Davos meeting will call on world leaders to address immediate economic, energy and food crises while laying the groundwork for a more sustainable and resilient world.
WEF also announced the agenda for the five-day meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from 16 to 20 January, saying it expects significant participation from Asia, including China and Japan.
From India, at least four union ministers are expected to attend, including Mansukh Mandaviya, Ashwini Vaishnav, Smriti Irani, and R K Singh, as well as three chief ministers from Yogi Adityanath, Eknath Shinde, and BS Bommai, as well as nearly 100 business and other leaders.
The theme of the 53rd Annual Meeting will be “Cooperation in a Fragmented World” and more than 2,700 leaders from 130 countries, including 52 heads of state government, will attend.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, South African President Cyril M Ramaphosa, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Swiss President Alain Berset and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin are among those attending.
Other top leaders include John F Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change; Avril Haines, US Director of National Intelligence; Martin J Walsh, US Secretary of Labor; Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative and Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank.
UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus are among those attending.
According to the World Economic Forum, the annual meeting comes when multiple crises deepen divisions and fragment the geopolitical landscape. Leaders must address people's immediate, critical needs while laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world by the end of the decade.
“On a global and national level, we see multiple political, economic and social forces causing increased fragmentation. To address the root causes of this trust erosion, we must strengthen cooperation between the government and business sectors, thereby creating the conditions for a strong and long-term recovery,” Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum said.
“At the same time, there must be an acknowledgement that economic development must be made more resilient, more sustainable, and no one should be left behind,” he added.
The 53rd Annual Meeting's programme focuses on solutions and public-private collaboration to address the world's most pressing challenges.
“It encourages world leaders to collaborate on the interconnected issues of energy, climate, and nature; investment, trade and infrastructure; frontier technologies and industry resilience; jobs, skills, social mobility and health; and geopolitical cooperation in a multipolar world,” according to the WEF, an international organisation for public-private cooperation.
Gender and geographical diversity are given special attention in all sessions, according to the statement.
This year will see the highest-ever business participation at Davos, with over 1,500 leaders registered across 700 organisations, including over 600 of the world's top CEOs from sectors including financial services, energy, materials and infrastructure, and information and communication technologies.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance CEO Seth F Berkley, International Transport Workers' Federation General Secretary Stephen Cotton, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad President Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Religions for Peace Secretary-General Azza Karam, and Art of Living Foundation Founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar are among the civil society leaders attending the meeting.
More than 125 experts and leaders from the world's top universities, research institutions and think tanks will also attend.