Cowen to join world leaders at economic forum summit

Taoiseach Brian Cowen will join dozens of world leaders at the World Economic Forum summit in Switzerland on Thursday.

A total of 2,500 guests from 96 countries will attend the five-day event which opens tomorrow under the theme: Shaping The Post-Crisis World.

The organisers claim 41 heads of state or government will be present as well as scores of key finance, foreign affairs, trade and energy ministers.

The Dáil will be concluding a two-day debate on the Irish economy as Mr Cowen attends the WEF in snow-bound Davos.

Other world leaders attending include German chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian president Vladimir Putin, British prime minister Gordon Brown and Japanese prime minister Taro Aso.

NGO representatives, social entrepreneurs and religious leaders have also been invited to the summit.

As well as the global economy, other issues being discussed by the WEF include climate change and food and water security.

“This year’s meeting is one of the most crucial in the near 40-year history of the World Economic Forum,” said a spokesman for the event.

“The participation of political and business leaders and other stakeholders demonstrates that the annual meeting will be the place where key figures can address both a crisis of unprecedented scope and, at the same time, the sort of world we collectively want to see emerging once the crisis is over.

“What we are experiencing is the birth of a new era, a wake-up call to overhaul our institutions, our systems and, above all, our way of thinking.”