NEW YORK, Jan 29: Over 3,000 world leaders from business, governments, academia, religion, the media and civil society would meet in New York City at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting scheduled to begin on Thursday.

The gathering, which has taken place in Davos, Switzerland, since 1971, moved to New York as a signal of WEF members determination to tackle head-on the extraordinary challenges faced by the world after the attacks of Sept. 11.

Under the theme “Leadership in Fragile Times: A Vision for a Shared Future.”

The WEF annual meeting 2002 is expected to be a comprehensive and disciplined gathering of world leaders and will contribute to shaping a new vision for the global agenda. The world leaders will have a first opportunity to develop an integrated response to the new circumstances which have evolved following Sept. 11.

“We created a brand new programme for this annual meeting programme designed to stimulate discussion and provide insights that will help us better cope with the fragility of our times,” said Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum.

“The World Economic Forum is making — on behalf of its members and partners — a renewed commitment to development issues through market solutions,” said José María Figueres, Managing Director and Head of the Forum’s Centre for the Global Agenda. “We see it as a way of moving toward a ‘virtuous circle’ of greater interaction between the business community and other sectors of society,” he said.

Participants at the annual meeting will include more than 1,100 business leaders, 200 academic experts, more than 100 representatives of non-governmental organizations, nearly 300 public figures and 300 media leaders from around the world. Two of the Forum’s premier communities, the Global Leaders for Tomorrow and the Technology Pioneers, will be represented by more than 200 men and women. Forty-three religious leaders, representing all major faiths, will also be participating. “When we began planning this meeting, in the aftermath of September 11 and in the midst of the anthrax scare in New York, we could hardly have imagined the level of participation we’re looking at today,” said Donna Redel, Managing Director and Head of the Forum’s Centre for Global Industries. “It’s clear that our members feel that this meeting is both necessary and important at this time,” she said. The annual meeting 2002 is focused around six major challenges that the global community is facing: 1. Restoring Sustained Growth 2. Achieving Security, Addressing Vulnerabilities 3. Redefining Business Challenges 4. Reducing Poverty and Achieving Equity 5. Sharing Values and Respecting Differences 6. Re-evaluating Leadership and Governance “The meeting will feature new and innovative formats in order to create an environment that maximizes opportunities for interaction and debate,” said Frédéric Sicre, Managing Director and Head of the Forum’s Centre for Regional Strategies. Sessions that formerly featured a panel of speakers will be replaced by workshops geared toward the active engagement of all participants. “Workshops will allow participants to debate key concepts and share valuable insight with peers on leadership and management issues and to explore the business, government and civil society perspectives on common challenges,” he said.

The gathering of world leaders for every facet of life is also extremely exclusive, and some participants have paid more than $25,000 for the privilege of attending — and that does not include lodging.

Pakistan would be represented by its Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, who is a veteran of Davos economic summit in his capacity as one of the top executive of Citibank before he became country’s financial chief.

These corporate executives and leaders from more than 100 countries bring entourages, expense accounts — and thousands of protesters to shadow them wherever they go, whether for breakfast at Le Cirque — (one of the most expensive restaurants in New York), dinner at the New York Stock Exchange, or a stroll through the American Museum of Natural History. There will be frozen zones, bodyguard T-formations, and many, many people in helmets and uniforms.

As was the case in World Trade Organizations’ (WTO) meeting in Seattle two years ago and rat the IMF and World bank meetings in Washington, Genoa and Prague last year scores of demonstrations are stipulated in the city which has seen immense disruption in the normal activity since Sept 11. New York city’s Deputy mayor for economic development, Daniel Doctoroff, emphasized that the Police Department was prepared to prevent any of the kind of mayhem that has broken out in Seattle, Genoa, and other cities where similar economic gatherings have taken place in recent years.