World Economic Forum in Davos: Interesting facts

Davos: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday arrived in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum where he would share his vision for 'India's future engagements with the international community'.

Following are some interesting facts about WEF:

- The WEF was founded in 1971 by German business professor Klaus Schwab as a way for European corporate leaders to learn from their US peers. 

- Political leaders started attending later in the 1970s and since then it has morphed into an annual event.

- 3,000-odd delegates are participating in 2018, including 70 world leaders.

- PM Modi will deliver the opening plenary address on Tuesday. The Indian presence is the largest ever with over 130 participants.

- Emmanuel Macron of France, Germany`s Angela Merkel, Britain`s Theresa May and Paolo Gentiloni of Italy, among others, will be in attendance. 

- A large contingent is coming from Africa, including Emmerson Mnangagwa, the successor to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and the new leader of South African`s ANC party, Cyril Ramaphosa.

- From Latin America, the presidents of Brazil and Argentina among others will be attending.

- Influential thinkers such as Israeli 'Homo Deus' author Yuval Noah Harari and Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker will be in Davos along with Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

- US President Donald Trump is due to close the conference with a speech on Friday.

- Panel discussions feature leaders from the worlds of business, finance, science and the arts.

- Many of the panels will revolve around the theme of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution", how to equip today`s workers to survive the advent of automation and artificial intelligence.

- Others will look at geostrategic challenges in the era of Trump, Brexit and identity politics - how to decipher fact from fiction in the age of 'fake news', exploiting machine intelligence in health, and combatting 'the next pandemic', risks to high-flying financial markets, making economic growth inclusive and the future of food, AFP reported.

- The overarching theme this year is 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World'.

(With AFP inputs)