WEF annual meet to kick off on January 17

More than 2,500 participants from around 100 countries, including India, are expected to participate in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum starting on January 17 at Davos, Switzerland.
The theme of the 47th annual meet, from January 17-20, would be Responsive and Responsible Leadership.
More than 2,500 participants from nearly 100 countries would meet and participate in over 300 sessions, World Economic Forum (WEF) said in a release today.
"The theme of the meeting calls on global leaders to renew the systems that have supported international cooperation in the past by adapting them to today's complex, multipolar world in ways that foster genuinely inclusive and equitable growth," it said in a release.

The meet would focus on five key challenges -- strengthening systems for global collaboration, addressing identity through positive narratives, revitalising the global economy, reforming market capitalism and preparing for the fourth industrial revolution.
Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan, documentary film maker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, UK-based Save the Children International CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Royal Philips President and CEO Frans van Houten and Hewlett Packard President and CEO Meg Whitman would be the co-chairs.

"Our world continues to become increasingly inter- dependent, even as political events signal a desire for isolation and a retreat from globalisation.
WEF's theme this year is 'Responsive and Responsible

Leadership' that will call for a new model of leadership championing collaboration, growth, reformed capitalism and preparedness for 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.
WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said: "The world around us is changing at unprecedented speed. At this tipping point, our traditional concepts of society, meaningful employment and the nation state are challenged, and many understandably feel insecure or even threatened.

"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 said it would be the most comprehensive meeting of ministerial delegations in the world, with over 70 countries, including all G20 nations, participating.
It will include the participation of the new Secretary- General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, along with heads of key international organisations.
The top Indian business leaders would include Bajaj group patriarch Rahul Bajaj and son Sanjiv, Wipro's Azim Premji and son Rishad, RIL's Mukesh Ambani along with wife Nita and son Akash, Godrej Industries' Nadir Godrej, Tech Mahindra's C P Gurnani, Bharti's Sunil Mittal, Ashok Leyland's Dheeraj Hinduja, Adani Group's Pranav Adani and Hero's Pawan Munjal.

Film maker Karan Johar, activist Swami Agnivesh and Congress leader Kamal Nath will also be there.
The Co-Chairs for the Annual Meeting are Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Documentary Filmmaker from Pakistan Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Save the Children International CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Royal Philips CEO Frans van Houten and Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman.
Other global leaders will be Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, IMF Chief Christine Lagarde and WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo, as also General Motors chief Mary Barra, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Alibaba's Jack Ma.
The opening day will also see singer, songwriter and education advocate Shakira, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and artist/social activist Forest Whitaker being awarded with the 2017 Crystal Awards in recognition of their leadership as artists improving the state of the world at a special session and concert tomorrow.

Shakira will be awarded for her leadership in supporting education and early-childhood development.
From India, a business delegation led by industry body CII would also be present in Davos for various meetings, including on the sidelines of the WEF Annual Meeting.
Tata Steel's T V Narendran and Mukund Rajan from Tata Group, ace bankers SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and Kotak Mahindra Bank's Uday Kotak, as also IDFC Bank's Rajiv Lall, Spicejet's Ajay Singh and Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma will also be present.
Ajit Gulabchand and Arjun Dhawan of HCC Infrastructure,
Ratul Puri of Hindustan Powerprojects, Siddharth Jain of INOX Group, Raghupati Singhania of JK Tyre, Sajjan Jindal of JSW Group, Shyam Sunder Bhartia and Hari S Bhartia of Jubilant Bhartia Group, Manish Kejriwal of Kedaara Capital, as also Ajay Piramal, Adar Poonawalla, Hemant Kanoria, Tulsi Tanti, Nidhi Tanti, Jaidev R Shroff, Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Srinath Sridharan, Balkrishan Goenka and Utkarsh Amitabh are also registered.

According to WEF, there would be 26 Social Entrepreneurs, 50 Global Shapers and more than 100 Young Global Leaders from across the world.
The Global Shapers, a community of young people under the age of 30, will give a voice to 50 per cent of the world's population that is still under-represented in global affairs, while Social Entrepreneurs and Young Global Leaders highlight the need for social innovation to correct the shortcomings of capitalism.
A voice for millennials will also be provided through live satellite to 16 cities on five continents, an essay competition and a social media campaign -- all of which will be featured as part of the Davos programme.

"The World Economic Forum is bringing more than 200 millennials, social entrepreneurs and young leaders under the age of 40 to the Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters to share views on the meeting theme Responsive and Responsible Leadership," it said.