Industry leaders arrive for business summit
BUSINESS leaders and politicians are descending on the Swiss town of Davos this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, one of the most high-profile networking events of the year.
Topics that will certainly be on the agenda include everything from the worrisome slowdown in emerging markets to uncertainty over the tapering of the US Federal Reserve stimulus and concerns over increasing levels of regulation.
British business interests will be represented by industry leaders including the chairman of Centrica Sir Roger Carr, Marks and Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland and the director general of the Confederation of British Industry John Cridland.
Of the 2,600 plus people registered to attend Davos this week the overwhelming majority, some 2,101, come from the private sector while 288 government officials are attending.
The politicians at Davos include Prime Ministers of Australia and Japan, Tony Abbott and Shinzo Abe, and UK politicians David Cameron, Nick Clegg and George Osborne.
This year even celebrities are getting in on the action with Matt Damon making an appearance and pop musician turned aspiring-activist Bono scheduled to hold a discussion with Cameron on Friday entitled “The Post-2015 Goals: Inspiring a New Generation to Act”.
WHO IS MISSING DAVOS THIS YEAR?
Investment guru, billionaire and chief executive of industrial conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett has never attended Davos
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has never attended Davos, following the trend set by his predecessor and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
Facebook chief executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg used to attend Davos, however the social network now sends representatives instead