Bono to announce new fight against Aids

U2 front man and activist Bono was today poised to unveil his latest effort to combat the spread of Aids in Africa while Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was to give a speech about the war on terror.

The second day of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, promised a blend of celebrity and brass-tacks talk of the issues facing the global community, ranging from security against terror to advancing human rights and the struggle against poverty and disease.

Musharraf, who was set to speak this morning, told The Wall Street Journal that his country would build a planned gas pipeline from Iran by itself if its talks with India failed.

Bono, meanwhile was set to announce a new brand name, “Red”, in partnership with American Express, Converse, Gap and Giorgio Armani that would see products sold under the name.

The venture, which will include an American Express card, shoes, t-shirts and sunglasses, will see part of the revenue go to the Global Fund, a public-private partnership that has committed $4.5bn (€3.7bn) for Aids, tuberculosis and malaria programs since it was created in 2002.

Yesterday, China and India touted their booming economies to the world’s business and political leaders, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded they posed tough competition as she strives to revive her country’s sluggish economy.

Even though Germany was once a pioneer in computer development, it has failed to keep pace with the growth of the industry, and must build its capacity, Merkel said Wednesday in the keynote speech to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

“China, India and many other countries have this capability,” she said. “We have to face up to the competition.”

Merkel came to Davos immediately after her government gave its outlook for Germany’s economy, predicting it would expand by 1.4% in 2006, fast enough to reduce its high unemployment.

Merkel met yesterday evening with Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to discuss concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, another major topic of this year’s session.

China’s growth had already made it the third largest nation in trade and in attracting foreign investment, said Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, who is overseeing the country’s five-year economic plan.

He said China hoped foreign entrepreneurs would seize the opportunity and expand trade and investment with China.

Klaus Schwab, who started the World Economic Forum more than three decades ago, announced at the opening day of the annual meeting that the growing importance of China and the rest of Asia led to his deciding to start a parallel session in China starting in the summer of 2007.

Bank of China’s assistant president, Zhu Min, told the meeting “the Chinese will have another about 8.8 to 9.3% growth rates (in 2006) because the whole economy is pretty healthy and strong.

"Domestic consumption really picked up and domestic construction is very strong.”

R Seshasayee, vice president of the Confederation of Indian Industry and managing director of Ashok Leyland, said India had also gone to Davos to underscore that the south Asian giant had arrived on the world scene.

“There is now a critical mass of interest in the world about India,” Seshasayee said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised the addition of high-powered sports figures to the World Economic Forum because the “global language” of sports can be used to promote peace and tolerance everywhere.

Among those attending are the heads of the Olympic movement and world soccer body as well as former soccer super star Pele and former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammed Ali.

More than 2,340 participants from 89 countries are attending, including 735 who are either chairmen, chief executives or chief financial officers of their companies, the highest figure of corporate leaders ever, Forum officials said.