The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting 2023 will take place from January 16 to 20 in Davos, Switzerland.
The event brings together leaders from government, business and civil society to address the state of the world and discuss priorities for the year ahead.
Established in 1971 by the German economist Klaus Schwab, the meeting was originally known as the European Management Forum, until a name change in 1987.
The theme this year is “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”.
Who is – and who is not – attending?
According to the organisers, more than 2,700 leaders from 130 countries, including 52 heads of state and government, will be attending the event in the alpine resort town.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the only G7 leader scheduled to attend the event. On Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson announced that the leader would not be attending the event due to an ongoing energy crisis in the country.
Europe:
- Alain Berset – president of the Swiss Confederation 2023 and Federal Councillor of Home Affairs
- Alexander De Croo – prime minister of Belgium
- Andrzej Duda – president of Poland
- Christine Lagarde – president of the European Central Bank
- Sanna Marin – prime minister of Finland
- Roberta Metsola – president of the European Parliament
- Kyriakos Mitsotakis – prime minister of Greece
- Mark Rutte – prime minister of the Netherlands
- Pedro Sánchez – prime minister of Spain
- Maia Sandu – president of the Republic of Moldova
- Olaf Scholz – federal chancellor of Germany
- Leo Varadkar – taoiseach of Ireland
- Ursula von der Leyen – president of the European Commission
- Aleksandar Vučić – president of Serbia
Americas:
- Chrystia Freeland – deputy prime minister and minister of finance of Canada
- Avril Haines – US director of national intelligence
- John F Kerry – special US presidential envoy for climate
- Katherine Tai – US trade representative
- Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego – president of Colombia
- Martin J. Walsh – US secretary of labour
Africa:
- Aziz Akhannouch – head of government of Morocco
- Najla Bouden – prime minister of Tunisia
- Samia SuluhuHassan – president of Tanzania
- Félix Tshisekedi – president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Asia:
- Ilham Aliyev – president of Azerbaijan
- Ferdinand Marcos, Jr – president of the Philippines
- Yoon Suk-yeol – president of South Korea
International:
- Fatih Birol – executive director of the International Energy Agency
- Mirjana Spoljaric Egger – president of the International Committee of the Red Cross
- Antonio Guterres – secretary-general of the United Nations
- Kristalina Georgieva – managing director of the International Monetary Fund
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – director general of World Health Organization
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – director general of the World Trade Organization
- Catherine Russell – executive director of UNICEF
- Jens Stoltenberg – secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
