WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM TO FOCUS ON 21ST CENTURY
USIA
USIS Washington File
22 January 1998
TEXT: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM TO FOCUS ON 21ST CENTURY
(Asian financial crises on agenda in Davos, Switzerland) (1010)
Geneva, Switzerland -- The 1998 Annual Meeting of the World Economic
Forum will be held from January 29-February 3 in Davos, Switzerland,
and will focus on the theme "Priorities for the 21st Century," as well
as the ongoing crisis in Asia and its implications.
Some 2,000 business executives, senior government officials, experts
from various fields, and heads of state and government will
participate, according to a press release issued by the World Economic
Forum.
Speakers from the United States include Stanley Fischer, first deputy
managing director, International Monetary Fund; Lawrence H. Summers,
U.S. deputy secretary of Treasury; and Stuart E. Eizenstat, U.S. under
secretary of state for economic, business and agricultural affairs.
They will discuss global implications of the recent market turmoil in
Asia.
The keynote address opening the meeting will be given by Helmut Kohl,
federal chancellor of Germany, and Gro Harlem Bruntland, former prime
minister of Norway, will serve as the rapporteur.
Following is the text of the press release:
(Begin text)
Press Release
World Economic Forum
Geneva, Switzerland
January 20, 1998
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM TO FOCUS ON MANAGING GLOBAL VOLATILITY
Set to open next week in Davos, the 1998 Annual Meeting will set the
"Priorities for the 21st Century"
Geneva, 20 January -- Some 2,000 business executives, heads of state,
senior government officials, and experts from various fields will
participate in the 1998 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum
next week in the Swiss resort of Davos.
Set in an era of unprecedented global complexities, the theme for the
Annual Meeting from 29 January to 3 February is "Priorities for the
21st Century." The second part of the theme is "Agenda 1998: Managing
Volatility." Within this rubric the meeting will address the most
pressing global issues in the economic, political, business,
scientific, technological, social, and cultural spheres and how they
will shape the world into the next century. The "Agenda 1998: Managing
Volatility" theme of the meeting will address thoroughly the ongoing
crisis in Asia and its implications.
The co-chairmen for the 1998 Annual Meeting are Ronnie Chan, Chairman,
Hang Lung Development Company Limited, Hong Kong; Joseph Gorman,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, TRW Inc., USA; Yoh Kurosawa,
Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Industrial Bank of Japan Ltd.,
Japan; and Helmut Maucher, Chairman of the Board, Nestle SA,
Switzerland. Gro Harlem Bruntland will be the Rapporteur for this
year's Annual Meeting.
Stanley Fischer, First Deputy Managing Director, International
Monetary Fund; Lawrence H. Summers, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Treasury;
and Stuart E. Eizenstat, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic,
Business and Agricultural Affairs, will discuss global implications of
the recent market turmoil which has caused havoc in Asia, affected
global economics, and tested the response mechanism of the
international system.
The meeting will also look at how Asia's competitiveness will be
affected and at which government measures will need to be taken to
ensure the recovery of Asia's economies and ensure that the crisis
will not happen again. Key government officials from Asia who have
confirmed their presence at Davos include Li Lanqing, Vice Premier,
People's Republic of China; Eisuke Sakakibara, Vice Minister of
Finance for International Affairs, Japan; and Supachai Panitchpakdi,
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, Thailand.
In the wake of the financial problems in Asia, key players, including
Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom, and
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry,
France, will discuss Europe's threatened economic recovery and
implications for monetary union. In a keynote address, Helmut Kohl,
Federal Chancellor of Germany, will open the 1998 Annual Meeting.
The resilience of Latin American economies in the face of the Asia
crisis will be addressed during the six-day meeting. Heads of state
who have confirmed their participation include: Carlos Saul Menem,
President of Argentina; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of
Brazil; Eduardo Frei, President of Chile; Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de
Leon, President of Mexico; and Ernesto Perez Balladeres, President of
Panama.
The tremendous and growing impact of information technology as the
world enters the next century will be highlighted by Stephen Case,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, America Online Inc., USA; Larry
J. Ellison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Oracle Corporation,
USA; William H. Gates III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Microsoft Corporation, USA; Nobuyuki Idei, President and Chief
Operating Officer, Sony Corporation, Japan; and Ron Sommer, Chairman
of the Board, Deutsche Telekom, Germany.
Other topics featured this year include:
-- Integrating Africa into the world economy, with Jerry Rawlings,
President of Ghana; Thabo Mbeki, Executive Deputy President of South
Africa; Yowen Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda; and other
high-level government officials from the region;
-- Governing globalization, with Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the
United Nations;
-- The consolidation of economic reform in Eastern and Central Europe,
discussed by heads of state from the region including Petar Stoyanov,
President of Bulgaria; Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, President of
Kazakhstan; Askar Akayev, President of Kyrgyzstan; Aleksander
Kwasniewski, President of Poland; Emil Constantinescu, President of
Romania; Janez Drnovsek, Prime Minister of Slovenia; and Valery
Pustovoitenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine;
-- Russia's first year of economic growth, with top members of the
government led by Victor Chernomyrdin, Prime Minister of Russia;
-- The role of the U.S. in the 21st century, with Newt Gingrich,
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Jim Kolbe, Congressman
from Arizona; Bill Richardson, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations;
and Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey;
-- Why history matters, with Desmund Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus and
Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa;
-- Several sessions devoted to the impact of the genetic revolution.
The World Economic Forum is the foremost international membership
organization integrating leaders from business, government, and
academia into a partnership committed to improving the state of the
world. It is an independent, impartial and not-for-profit foundation.
Since 1971, the World Economic Forum acts as a bridge-builder between
business and government. This interface creates new opportunities for
business and economic development and in defining solutions to global
issues.
For more information, please contact the World Economic Forum's media
center in Geneva on telephone (41 22) 869 1212; fax (41 22) 786 2744;
e-mail: pr...@weforum.org; or in Davos from 25 January to 3 February
1998 on (41 81) 414 6780-85, fax (41 81) 414 6791.
(End text