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The Rich, the Powerful and Angelina Jolie |
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January 25, 2005 |
Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac are among
the European leaders taking centre stage at the World
Economic Forum, an annual meeting of the rich, powerful
and famous.
Celebrities from rock star Bono to actress Angelina
Jolie are also expected for five days of meetings in the
Swiss ski resort of Davos from tomorrow.
Topping the agenda: how to more effectively fight
poverty and Aids in the developing world.
The forum has been a favourite of US administration
officials in recent years, including Vice President Dick
Cheney and former President Bill Clinton.
This year’s event will be dominated by European leaders,
however, as key US officials stay away because of
changes under way in the Bush administration, organisers
said.
Chirac will start things rolling with a preliminary
”special message” tomorrow afternoon, and Mr Blair
delivers the keynote address as the forum formally opens
in the evening.
Tight security – including an air force ready to shoot
down unauthorised aircraft that stray too close to the
2,500 participants – has been set up to make sure the
leaders can chat undisturbed in the resort’s hotels and
meeting centres – or on the ski slopes above.
“Taking responsibility for tough choices” is the theme
for this year’s meetings, organised into a tightly
packed choice of 220 sessions from breakfast time until
midnight. Many more meetings involving national
presidents, prime ministers and business leaders take
place behind the scenes.
Among the toughest choices for participants will be
selecting from the bewildering lists of discussions –
many of which are held simultaneously and over meals.
They range from heavy debates on the world economy or an
individual country’s problems and prospects to more
self-centred themes like “knowing your own mind.”
A “cultural leaders dinner” on Friday gives participants
a chance to meet with Richard Gere, who has campaigned
for Tibetan rights, and Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who has witnessed
first hand the problems of people fleeing persecution.
Among other actors at the dinner will be Sharon Stone
and Carole Bouquet as well as architects, musicians and
other artists.
Bono, Clinton and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are set
to meet the presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and
Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria for a session on The G-8
and Africa – Rhetoric or Action?
The privilege of joining in the discussions, or perhaps
just being present with a chance of cutting back-room
deals, costs business leaders.
The minimum membership fee for a company is £13,000, and
the ticket for each business executive to attend is
£6,500, spokesman Mark Adams said.
The gathering often sets up the possibility of major
meetings on the sidelines. This year the presence of
about 30 trade ministers will make possible a
”mini-ministerial” meeting Saturday, aimed at getting
global trade talks going again.
Negotiators are hoping to have a workable deal on the
table in time for a summit in Hong Kong in December. |
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