World Economic Forum meet to begin tomorrow, India growth story to be watched

This year's meeting, which would be WEF's 43rd at Davos, would be co-chaired by Coca-Cola chief Muhtar Kent, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, UBS Chairman Axel Weber, Embraer President Frederico Curado, Toshiba Chairman Atsutoshi Nishida, as also Transparency International's Huguette Labelle.

The annual WEF meet, which is held every year in the peak of winters in this small Swiss town, would be attended by over 2,500 participants from over 100 countries, representing business, government, academia and civil society.

This would include nearly 50 heads of state or government and more than 1,500 business leaders.

The other heads of state or government attending the WEF meet are from Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Ireland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and Zimbabwe, among others.

While at Davos, the trade ministers from key WTO member countries, including India, would also meet separately to discuss the world economic scenario and issues related with Doha Round of negotiations for a global trade deal.

Big differences between developing and developed countries have plagued the WTO talks, which were launched in 2001 in Doha, Qatar's capital, with the goal of helping poor countries prosper through enhanced trade.

Besides his counterparts from other countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma would also meet business leaders from numerous global companies, including TESCO, Standard Chartered, Diageo, Novartis, Merck, Unilever and

Philips.

"We view this (WEF) as an opportunity to showcase the opportunities in

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