World Economic Forum's (WEF) agenda for 2018

The 48th annual meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland is scheduled to take place between January 22 and January 26. With the theme, 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World’, the WEF will host a line-up of globe-trotting financiers, industry veterans, and politicians across the globe.

Established in 1971, the forum is expected to witness over 100 CEOs in attendance with India’s contingent amounting to 129 in the WEF 2018.

The five-day WEF meet will have 3,000 global, political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agenda.

WEF 2018 - 

Spread over 400 sessions, the meeting would have largest ever proportion of women leaders - 21 percent which includes all co-chairs being women with social entrepreneur Chetna Sinha from India and IMF's Christine Lagarde.

The opening plenary at the WEF's Davos summit will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the keynote address will be given by US President Donald Trump. 

PM Modi, who will be making his first appearance at the WEF annual meet is expected to take up his experience with 'cooperative federalism' in India in addition with calling upon the world for a collective crackdown on economic imbalances, terrorism cyber threats and other societal issues. 

The Prime Minister is likely to address numerous measures taken up by his government to make it easier to do business in India while also putting a check on corruption, black money, streamline taxation and boost sustainable growth.

Indian Delegates - 

Six Union Ministers including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,  Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Railway minister Piyush Goyal, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and MJ Akbar along with two chief ministers Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra) will be accompanying PM Modi.

India’s total presence of delegates including more than 100 CEOs is the fourth highest after the US (780), the UK (266), Switzerland (233) and China (118).

Women participants account for 12 percent of total Indian presence while 27 percent of women participants are from the US, 24 percent from the UK, 22 percent from Germany, 20 percent from Switzerland, 19 percent for China and 18 percent for France.

The WEF 2018 will focus on finding ways to reaffirm international cooperation on trivial shared interests including international security, the environment and the global economy.

An additional priority of the meeting is to overcome divisions within countries.

The summit will also have 40 arts and culture leaders such as Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, Cate Blanchett and Elton John.