The main subject of the 39th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos, to be held on January 28-February 1, 2009, is "Shaping the Post-Crisis World".
The meeting will convene 2,500 participants from 96 countries, including 41 heads of state, 60 ministers, 30 heads or senior officials of international organisations, and 10 ambassadors.
"More than 1,400 chief executives and chairpersons from the world's leading companies are participating this year, the highest attendance ever since the World Economic Forum was founded in 1971," the WEF noted.
The list of participants also includes 510 civil society representatives, 225 journalists, 215 academics and heads of research centres, 10 religious leaders, and 10 heads of trade unions.
The 2009 meeting has been recognised the most important in the Forum's history. According to the WEF leaders, the global financial crisis calls for reviewing methods of governing the global economy with due regard for climate change and risks related to food and fresh water shortages. At the same time, the global economic crisis, the worst in over 70 years, offers huge opportunities for applying cutting-edge technologies and using changes in the market situation to global advantage.
The Forum organisers say the objective this year is "to catalyse a holistic and systematic approach to improve the state of the world in a manner that integrates all stakeholders of global society." They describe the meeting as a "unique opportunity at the beginning of 2009 for leaders from industry, government and civil society to shape this transformation at an early stage for the benefit of all stakeholders."