Davos gears up for world gathering
Asia News Network, Bangkok
China, India, tsunami, and global climate changes: these are among the topics that will dominate this week's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which will be attended by representatives of the Asia News Network, an alliance of 14 newspapers in 12 Asian countries.
The forum will be opened by British prime minister Tony Blair who will outline his priorities as president of the G-8 group of nations for the coming year.
Two editors from the Asia News Network will also take to the podium. Zhu Ling, editor-in-chief of China Daily, will be a panelist for a discussion on "What does it mean to be Chinese".
Suthichai Yoon, editor-in-chief of Nation Multimedia Group, will moderate a session on "Asia's New Balancing Act" with speakers including Shaukat Aziz, prime minister of Pakistan; Josep Borrell Fontelles, president of the European Parliament; Yoriko Kawaguchi, special adviser to the prime minister of Japan; James A. Leach, a congressman from USA; and Shen Guofang, assistant minister for foreign affairs of the People's Republic of China.
Aside from China Daily and The Nation, other members of the Asia News Network are The Straits Times (Singapore), Vietnam News, The Jakarta Post, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Star and Sin Chew Daily (Malaysia), The Statesman (India), the Island (Sri Lanka), Daily Star (Bangladesh), Korea Herald, Daily Yomiuri and Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan).
WEF's executive chairman, Prof. Klaus Schwab, said of this year's theme - Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices - "We find ourselves at a crucial moment for the world and its leaders.
"There are a number of new beginnings, from the new presidency of the European Commission to the election of a new president for the Palestinian Authority, to the new leadership in Ukraine.
"Leaders from all sectors of society will come to Davos this year to work on ways to consolidate and build on these new beginnings to improve the state of the world.
"What is needed is 'pragmatic optimism', the resolve to work with the world we have, to make a world as it should be," he said.
Over the course of the five-day meeting, more than 2,250 participants from 96 countries will convene in Davos, including more than 20 heads of state or government, 70 cabinet ministers, 26 religious leaders, 15 union leaders and more than 50 heads of non-governmental organizations. Around 50 percent of the participants are business leaders drawn principally from the Forum's members - 1,000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across all economic sectors.
Among other heads of state/government and other public figures coming are Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission; Marek Belka, prime minister of Poland; Joseph R. Biden, senator from USA; Kjell Magne Bondevik, prime minister of Norway; Masoumeh Ebtekar, vice-president of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Mohamed M. ElBaradei, director-general, International Atomic Energy Agency; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkey; Bill Frist, senator from USA; Orrin G Hatch, senator from USA; John Howard, prime minister of Australia; Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic; Aleksander Kwasniewski, president of Poland; Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil; Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa; John McCain, senator from USA; Benjamin William Mkapa, president of Tanzania; Amre Moussa, secretary-general, League of Arab States, Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, prime minister of Egypt; Samuel Schmid, president of the Swiss Confederation; Gerhard Schroder, federal chancellor of Germany; Victor A. Yushenko, president of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, from the world of business are Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft; Josef Ackermann, chairman of the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank; Daniel Bouton, chairman and chief executive officer, Societe Generale; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, vice-chairman and chief executive officer, Nestle SA, and others.