South African President Thabo Mbeki, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel, Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa and South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni will lead a high-level delegation to the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, sources confirmed on Wednesday.
The theme this year is Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices, and the meeting will be held from January 26 to 30.
Speaking at the press conference at the WEF’s headquarters in Geneva, founder and executive chairperson Professor Klaus Schwab said: “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.”
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 NGOs.
About 50% of the participants are business leaders drawn principally from the WEF’s members — 1 000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across all economic sectors.
The opening session of the annual meeting of 2005 will be a major innovation, the “global town hall”, which is an interactive plenary session designed to bring diverse people, voices and viewpoints together around the meeting’s theme.
The objective is for participants to focus on the toughest challenges facing us and to prioritise the six issues that should be at the top of the global agenda in 2005.
The results of the opening town hall will be integrated into the relevant sessions in the official programme. — I-Net Bridge