THE CHALLENGE OF AN “INCREASINGLY SCHIZOPHRENIC WORLD"

This is the title of a press release of the World Economic Forum, dated 17 January, which unveils the programme for its Annual Meeting in Davos, which will take place from 24 to 28 January. The overarching theme of the Meeting will be “Shaping the Global Agenda, The Shifting Power Equation.”

Speaking at the press conference at the World Economic Forum’s headquarters in Geneva, Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab said, “We are faced by a world which is increasingly schizophrenic. Our world is rapidly changing and power is shifting geopolitically, in business terms and even in the virtual world. Power, wealth and well-being are spread in ever more complex ways, leading to a world which is harder and harder to understand and which often seems alien to us. It is to make sense of this world, and to tackle its complex problems and opportunities, that leaders from all walks of life will once again meet in Davos at our Annual Meeting. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting gives all of us a chance to understand and shape the Global Agenda in the year ahead.”

The programme will follow four main themes

· “Economics: New Drivers”
· “Geopolitics: The Need for Fresh Mandates”
· “Business: Leading in a Connected World”
· “Technology and Society: Identity, Community and Networks”

Quite 2,400 participants from 90 countries will attend the Meeting, including 24 heads of state or government, 85 cabinet ministers, along with religious leaders, media leaders and heads of non-governmental organizations. Around 50% 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. At the opening session of the Annual Meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will lay out her agenda for the year ahead. She will be chair of the G8 for 2007 and rotating head of the European Council for the first six months of the year. Peter Torreele, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, said “As business leaders become more and more engaged with global problems, it’s clear that the Forum is providing the platform for them to work with other sectors of society for the global good.”

Commenting on the Annual Meeting programme, Ged Davis, Managing Director and Head of the Centre for Strategic Insight at the World Economic Forum, said: “The idea that the world is in transition is not new, but in 2007 we can see much more clearly the dimensions of change in technology, society, geopolitics and economics, and the consequences for business. It is our understanding of this change that underscores the theme of the Annual Meeting in Davos: 'The Shifting Power Equation’. At the Annual Meeting we can explore the implications of these shifts."

More at: www.weforum.org/annualmeeting