January 25, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 05, 1428

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DAVOS (Switzerland), Jan 24: Pakistan is set to engage with world leaders at the World Economic Forum in its efforts to advance its political and economic interests by putting forth the country’s view on issues confronting the world.

For the purpose, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has arrived here to participate in the WEF Annual Meeting on an invitation of Dr Klaus Schwab, chairman of the forum.

Minister of Commerce Humayun Akhtar Khan, Minister for Privatisation Zahid Hamid, Minister for Information Technology Owais Leghari, Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and adviser to the prime minister on finance Dr Salman Shah are accompanying Mr Aziz. The prime minister will be among the key speakers in sessions on Islamic dialogue in the Council of 100 Leaders and the plenary session on ‘comprehensive response to terrorism’ and ‘stopping the spread of nuclear weapons’.

He will also participate in panel discussions on ‘women empowerment and education reform, and will take part in the ‘Open Forum’ on issues related to religion, peace and violence.

The prime minister will meet several political and business leaders in Davos to hold bilateral and business meetings.

He will also meet the chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum, Prof Klaus Schwab, and discuss ways and means for further engagements of the WEF in Pakistan’s economic growth. He is expected to meet media leaders as well.

Elitist of the global elite class are converging at the scenic Swiss health and sport resort Davos for the World Economic Forum to ponder on challenges faced by an increasingly insecure and complex world and shape, in words of organisers, ‘the global agenda’.

Over the next five days, 2,400 participants from 90 countries, including 24 heads of state, 85 ministers and representatives of the civil society will meet in back to back marathon sessions in the conference.

Half of the participants are business leaders drawn from 1,000 WEF members.

The overarching theme of the meeting is ‘shaping the global agenda, the shifting power equation’. Four sub-themes of the meeting are: Economies: new drivers, Geopolitics: the need for fresh mandates, Business: leading in connected world, Technology and society: identity, community and networks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will lay out the agenda for the year ahead. This will be followed by a series of workshops around the forum’s themes and sub-themes.

Breakthrough expected

DAVOS: WTO members and trade experts are expecting a major breakthrough in the upcoming mini-ministerial meeting on Jan 27 that may lead to the revival of the stalled Doha round of trade talks.

Their optimism is based on rumours that key global players the European Union and the United States have shown some flexibility and have reached some understanding on long-drawn issues of farm subsidies in the US and import tariffs in the EU.

Stakes for trading nations in an increasingly globalised world are said to be particularly high as the fast track authority of the president of the USA is expiring in June 2007. Experts believe that if talks are not revived before the TPA expiry in the US it will be increasingly difficult to strike a deal anytime soon. After the expiry of the TPA (Trade Promotion Authority), the US will be required to get the deal cleared from its Congress, a process that can even take years before making any progress.