WEF kicks off in Davos.. 56 finance ministers, 600 CEOs to ‎attend

Today, Monday, the activities of the World Economic Forum will kick off in Davos, Switzerland, amid a record attendance of government figures and the private sector.

It is expected that 52 heads of state and government will participate in the forum, along with 56 ministers of finance, and more than 600 chief executives.

Among the most prominent topics that will dominate the forum are short-term risks such as the rising cost of living, how to avoid a global recession this year, and the decline in efforts to combat climate change.

The forum will be held in this year’s edition (2023), in which the Russian delegation will be absent for the second year in a row, under the title “Cooperation in a Divided World.”

Bloomberg said that the presence of Russian billionaires “was essential at the Davos Forum not long ago … but their presence this year has become completely non-existent” due to the war in Ukraine.

It continued: “In addition to the absent Russians, there are no billionaires from China this year, as the country is still under the weight of rising Covid infections, in addition to the staggering stock market that erased $ 224 billion from the wealth of the country’s largest rich in 2022.” “

Bloomberg also indicated that the list of billionaire guests this year differs markedly from the lists of previous years, which reflects the global turmoil that reshaped fortunes and changed power centers amid conflicts, the epidemic and high inflation.

Moreover, about 116 billionaires have registered to attend the Davos 2023 conference, which will be held until January 20 under the slogan “Cooperation in a Divided World,” an increase of 40% compared to the previous decade.

Americans constitute the largest group of billionaires, as 33 billionaires are scheduled to attend, while only 18 billionaires from Europe will attend.

According to Bloomberg, the rise in the number of billionaires from the Gulf countries contributed to filling the void

Also attending are 13 billionaires from India, including Gautam Adani, the coal tycoon whose wealth grew by $44 billion last year. Adani is currently the fourth richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.