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All eyes turn to Davos for World Economic Forum summit

The world's top business and political leaders are meeting today in the Swiss resort of Davos for the annual summit of the World Economic Forum. Security is tight, amid fears that anti-globalisation protesters will try to disrupt the meeting.

The world’s top business and political leaders are meeting today in the Swiss resort of Davos for the opening of the annual summit of the World Economic Forum. Security is tighter than usual, amid fears that anti-globalisation protesters will try to disrupt the meeting.

Entitled “New Beginnings: Making a Difference” the five-day meeting is billed to focus on business and economic issues, but as usual at Davos, political encounters in public and behind closed doors are likely to grab some of the biggest headlines.

Much of the pre-summit political focus has centred on the brief visit of President Clinton on Saturday and the meetings he will have, aimed at giving fresh impetus to the Middle East peace process.

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, will attend the meeting on Sunday – a day after President Clinton is due to discuss the Middle East peace talks with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

Clinton will hold a series of other meetings, among them with a Swiss delegation comprising the president, Adolf Ogi, and four other cabinet members, finance minister, Kaspar Villiger, economics minister, Pascal Couchepin, interior minister, Ruth Dreifuss, and foreign minister, Joseph Deiss.

Over 2000 politicians, business leaders and intellectuals, as well as representatives of international organisations, are attending the meeting.

The very presence of certain politicians is likely to arouse considerable interest among the 650 accredited media representatives. For example, Wolfgang Schäuble, currently embroiled in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party financial scandal in Germany is likely to attract considerable attention.

The meeting is being held amid even tighter security than usual following a threat by anti-globalisation protestors to repeat the kind of disruption they caused at the World Trade Organisation summit in Seattle last year. Permission for a demonstration on Saturday, the day of Clinton’s visit, has been denied but will be allowed on Sunday.

Organisers of the Geneva-based World Economic Forum are keen to stress the business, socio-economic and technological importance of the summit.

“New realities are radically changing almost every domain of human activity” says managing director Claude Smadja. “The compounding forces of globalisation, the technology and biology revolutions, and the emergence of the e-economy confront us with a challenge of unprecedented magnitude in human history.”

Discussions will focus on 12 key areas where, according to the Forum, “societies need to act to maintain cohesion and prosper in the coming years.”

Those discussions will range from “new business models and new economic rules,” through “changing the world as we have known it” and “environment and responsibility”, to the internet economy, social, health and science issues, and subjects entitled “redefining the role of business, government and civil society” and “geopolitical issues in Kosovo.”

From staff and wire reports

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