Trump, Merkel, Imran to attend WEF's annual Davos meet

New Delhi/Geneva: US President Donald Trump, Britain's Prince Charles, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Afghanistan's Ashraf Ghani and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan would be among the world leaders attending the 50th annual meeting of WEF next week in the Swiss ski resort town Davos.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020, taking place on January 20-24, will focus on establishing stakeholder capitalism as a way of addressing the world's greatest challenges, from societal divisions created by income inequality and political polarisation to the climate crisis we face today, the Geneva-based International organisation for public-private partnership said on Tuesday.

From India, actress Deepika Padukone will be present, besides over 100 CEOs as well as political leaders including union ministers and chief ministers.

Underpinning the meeting will be the Davos Manifesto 2020, a document that builds on the original Davos Manifesto of 1973, which set out for the first time the stakeholder concept that businesses should serve the interests of all society rather than simply their shareholders'.

The Davos Manifesto 2020 provides a vision for stakeholder capitalism that touches on a range of important issues of our time, including fair taxation, zero tolerance for corruption, executive pay and respect for human rights.

"Business has now to fully embrace stakeholder capitalism, which means not only maximizing profits, but use their capabilities and resources in cooperation with governments and civil society to address the key issues of this decade.

They have to actively contribute to a more cohesive and sustainable world," said Klaus Schwab, WEF Founder and Executive Chairman.