Jinping to open WEF Davos meet; over 100 from India to attend

Chinese President Xi Jinping will open the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) in Swiss ski resort town of Davos next week, which will be attended by a record 3,000 global leaders from business, government and civil society, including over 100 from India.

Announcing the programme for the 47th Annual Meeting, from January 16-20, 2017, WEF announced at a press conference here that the summit will have a theme of ‘Responsive and Responsible Leadership’.

The Meeting will call for a new model of leadership championing collaboration, growth, reformed capitalism and preparedness for the fourth industrial revolution. More than half of 400 sessions at the five-day event will address strategies for fostering greater social inclusion and human development, while one-third of the 3,000 participants come from outside Europe and North America.

Another one-third will represent stakeholder groups outside business and government, Geneva-based WEF said.

“Under the theme Responsive and Responsible Leadership, the Meeting will focus on four critical leadership challenges for 2017 re-imagining global cooperation, revitalising the global economy, reforming capitalism and preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” it added.

“A new model of responsive and responsible leadership is needed to allow us to address the challenges the world faces, from security to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with long- term, action-oriented thinking and solidarity on a national and global level,” WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said.