World leaders, business leaders and celebrities will finally gather in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum this week, after Covid-19 delayed the in-person summit for more than two years.
The conference usually takes place in January but was pushed back to May after a rise in coronavirus cases forced the WEF to delay the summit to December.
The meeting will start on Tuesday and end on Thursday.
In keeping with this year’s theme – “History at a Turning Point: Government Policies and Trade Strategies” – the meeting will include sessions on economic rebalancing, governance and security, equity and global health, in a global context. inflation, supply chain disruptions, the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a special virtual speech on the first day of the conference. Russian cadres and leaders were not invited to the summit in response to the invasion.
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, will deliver a keynote address on Europe’s global role at a dinner on Tuesday and discuss the continent’s unity at a panel on Wednesday.
Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Facebook parent company Meta, is expected to attend the same dinner as Lagarde alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the Belgian and Luxembourg prime ministers and other world leaders.
Ruth Porat, chief financial officer of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will discuss the digital economy during a panel on Tuesday. Alan Jope, chief executive of consumer goods company Unilever, will discuss global environmental, social and corporate governance issues during a panel with Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan on the same day.