Gilani leaves for Davos to attend World Economic Forum summit

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Wednesday left here for Davos to attend the annual summit of the World Economic Forum.

He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and other officials.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to hold meetings with world leaders who will gather at Davos, the Alpine Resort of Switzerland to deliberate upon the global economic issues.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will open the annual event in which 40 heads of state, 18 of the world's central bankers besides around 2,600 of the world's top political and business leaders are expected to participate.

Leaders from Saudi Arabia, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, billionaires like philanthropist George Soros, senior executives from Facebook, Google and other tech giants, and the leaders of countries including Germany, South Africa, Mexico, and the world's youngest nation, South Sudan.

Gilani is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the President of Swiss Confederation, Azerbaijan, Prime Minister of Denmark, the founder of the WEF Professor Klaus Schwab, President of Mexico, Prime Minister of Thailand, UN High Commissioner of Refugees Antonio Guterres, Director General World Health Organisation Margaret Chan, besides a meeting with the Microsoft Chief Bill Gates.

During his five day stay at Davos, the Prime Minister will also participate in interactive session on "Adapting to Climate Risk" and share his experiences about Pakistan's handling of natural disasters and discuss how to evolve a strategy to prepare for natural calamities.

He will also join the world leaders at an informal gathering of the world economic leaders, besides attending the session on defining the Imperatives for 2012, and a Media Leaders Event.

Interviews with leading media organizations have also been lined up for the Prime Minister.

The theme for this year summit is "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models".

The world leaders participating at the event include UK Prime Minister David Cameron, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, IMF Chief Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and WTO Director General Pascal Lamy.