LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, country’s former army chief Gen Raheel Shareef (retd), Chinese President Xi Jinping, British Prime Minister Theresa May, outgoing American Vice President Joe Biden and South African President Jacob Zuma are among the noted international personalities who are scheduled to attend the 47th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, which will begin from January 17 to 20, 2017 at Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, under the theme “Responsive and Responsible Leadership”.
It is imperative to note that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has attended a few World Economic Forum moots in the snow-capped Swiss Alps before. According to British news agency Reuters and The New York Times, President Xi Jinping is set to become the first Chinese head of state to attend the Forum, bringing with him a contingent of China’s wealthiest executives.
Overall, some 40 cultural, business, government, media and civil society leaders will participate in this prestigious moot, which also marks the 23rd Annual Crystal Awards, recognising artists who have demonstrated exemplary leadership.
The Forum would convene between 2,500 and 3,000 participants from nearly 100 countries to take part in almost 300 working sessions. Hollywood filmmaker of Pakistani origin, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, is due to be the first artiste ever to co-chair the annual meeting in Davos.
Sharmeen has made various multi-award winning films in over 10 countries around the world. Her films include ‘Saving Face’, ‘Transgenders’: Pakistan’s open secret and Pakistan’s Taliban Generation. Her work has aired on channels spanning four continents including, HBO, CNN, PBS, Channel 4, CBC, Arte, SBS and the Discovery channel.
In 2012, Time Magazine had included Sharmeen in their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In 2013, the Canadian government had awarded Sharmeen a ‘Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal’ for her work in the field of documentary films.
Sharmeen has also been awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan – the country’s second highest civilian honour.
This year, the World Economic Forum has also invited the Afghan Women’s Orchestra “Zohra” to perform at the closing concert on January 20.
The band “Zohra”, led by two inspiring female conductors, Negin Khpolwak and Zarifa Adiba, comprises 30 young women between the ages of 14 and 20 who are studying at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.
They are the first women in their families, community and country to learn music in over 30 years.
The World Economic Forum was first held in 1971, when 444 executives from Western Europe were invited to the first European Management Symposium held in the Davos Congress Centre under the patronage of the European Commission and European industrial associations, where organisers had sought to introduce European firms to American management practices. Till 1987, it was known as the European Management Forum.
The Geneva-based World Economic Forum was founded by the Germany-born Prof Klaus Schwab (born 1938), who also happens to be the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.
An engineer and economist by training, Prof Klaus Schwab holds doctorates in Economics from the University of Fribourg, in engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and a Masters of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard University.
This is what the BBC had written about Prof Schwab on January 12, 2015: “Forum founder Klaus Schwab may be the only person to have hung up the phone on a French president. In the 1970s he asked his secretary to call “Mr Giscard d’Estaing”. He wanted to talk to Olivier Giscard d’Estaing, the man in charge of Insead Business School. Instead the call was made to the Elysee Palace, and Schwab was put straight through to Valery Giscard d’Estaing. Hearing president’s distinctive voice, Schwab panicked and put down the phone”.
In 1972 he became one of the youngest professors on the faculty of the University of Geneva. He has received numerous international and national honours.
In 1973, a few notable international events like the collapse of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate mechanism and the Arab-Israeli War, saw the annual meeting expand its focus from management to economic and social issues. Political leaders were invited for the first time to Davos in January 1974.
Notable personalities who have attended WEF since 1974:
Since 1974, innumerable global political and business leaders including former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, his successor Asif Ali Zardari, former Pakistani premiers Benazir Bhutto, Shaukat Aziz and Yusuf Raza Gilani, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US ex-president Bill Clinton, Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev, two-time Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, former US president Ronald Reagan (via video link only), former Chancellor of Austria Werner Faymann, former Japanese premier Naoto Kan, Turkish head of state Recap Tayyip Erdogan, British premiers Edward Heath,Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, Hungary’s ex-premier Ferenc Gyurcsany, former French prime minister François Charles Fillon, Indonesian President Susilo Yudhoyono, former Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, former US vice president Al-Gore, world’s richest man Bill Gates, late South African president Nelson Mandela and country’s other heads of state FW deKlerk and Jacob Zuma, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Mexican President Felipe Hinojosa, Colombian President Alvaro Velez, Queen Rania of Jordan, President of Dominican Republic Leonel Antonio Reyna, President of European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet, PTI chief Imran Khan, renowned American politician Barnett “Barney” Frank, former World Bank President Robert Zoellick, former United Nations Secretary Generals Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy IMF Managing Director and Deputy Governor Bank of China Zhu Min, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, former Turkish prime minister Turgut Ozal, former Greek premier Andreas Papandreou, former Andhra Pradesh (India) chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, noted Pakistani religious cleric-cum-politician Dr Tahirul Qadri and former European Commission vice president Raymond Joseph Barre etc have attended the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos.
In 1988, the Davos Declaration signed in 1988 by Greece and Turkey, which saw them turn back from the brink of war.
In 1989, North and South Korea had held their first ministerial-level meetings in Davos.
At the same meeting, East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow and German ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl had met to discuss German reunification.
In 1992, South African President FW deKlerk and Nelson Mandela had inked a pact to bring stability in the country. This was their first joint appearance outside South Africa and a milestone in country’s political transition.
During the 1994 annual meeting, Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat had reached a draft agreement on Gaza strip.
The World Economic Forum is funded by its 1,000 member companies, mostly global enterprises with more than $5 billion in turnover (varying by industry and region). These enterprises rank among the top companies within their industry and/or country and play a leading role in shaping the future of their industry and/or region.
Membership is stratified by the level of engagement with Forum activities, with the level of membership fees increasing as participation in meetings, projects and initiatives rises.
Approximately 2,200 participants gather for the five-day event and attend some of the 220 sessions in the official programme. As many as 500 journalists from online, print, radio and television take part, with access to all sessions in the official programme, some of which are also webcast.