WEF Davos meet begins; food prices,jobs to dominate agenda

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND: Rising commodity prices, global economic risks and increasing unemployment would be on the main-course menu for 2,500 global leaders, including 130 from India, who have gathered for the annual World Economic Forum meeting at the snow-white skiing resort here.

Though Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would formally open the five-day annual meeting in the evening, the business sessions began early morning.

India, the second fastest expanding economy of the world after China, is fielding the biggest-ever delegation of 125 CEOs and senior ministers like Home Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel.

Besides, the leading lights of India Inc like Azim Premji of Wipro, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises, and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon are being involved in discussing 'new economic reality', future of employment and making growth over-arching.

The Geneva-based WEF is playing host to 1400 from top 1,000 companies around the world, 30 heads of state or governments, renowned academicians, artists and the faith leaders, including head of the Chinmaya Mission in New Delhi Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati.

The masters of the corporate world, governments and intellectual and spiritual world are meeting against a global economic environment which is yet to fully recover from the severe setbacks received in 2008 and 2009.

The recovery in the developing world is largely driven by domestic demand but is quite considered fragile in the western economies.

According to the World Bank, though the global economy recovered by 3.9 per cent in 2010, the pace is not enough to create adequate jobs.

Among 30 heads of government, the limelight is bound to be stolen by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, British Prime Minister David Cameron and South African President Jacob G Zuma.