The Hindu : Jaswant to attend Davos meet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 22, 2003

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Jaswant to attend Davos meet

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JAN. 21. The Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, is going to Davos, Switzerland, to participate in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Other prominent persons likely to be in Davos during the January 23-28 are the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, and the Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna.

The Planning Commission member, N.K. Singh, the Finance Secretary, S. Narayan, and the Chief Economic Adviser, Ashok Lahiri, will also be part of the Indian delegation. In addition, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will have a 40-member delegation, led by the CII president, Ashok Soota, the vice-president, Anand Mahindra, and the director-general, Tarun Das.

Mr. Singh's address at the plenary session is expected to focus on whether the world and India, in particular, are on track to achieve the goals set in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Thereafter, in an informal gathering of WEF leaders, Mr. Singh will co-chair a session on "Economic and Geopolitical Implications of the Fight Against International Terrorism", where the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, will be one of the keynote speakers. Mr. Singh is also expected to do a special briefing on India for key participants at the meeting.

Mr. Naidu will be defining migration priorities in a workshop and, subsequently, be discussing if science is really for the global good. He will also be in a workshop on how mega-cities in the developing world address the challenges of massive urbanisation. Mr. Krishna will discuss the effect of globalisation on poverty and inequality and how public-private partnership can work effectively.

N.K. Singh will participate in a session on international trade and capacity building and also be part of an informal gathering of the leaders of WEF and contribute to discussions at another informal gathering of world leaders to identify Doha `Development Round' success factors.

Other important events pertaining to India will be the CII's "Annual India Reception" to be hosted on January 25 in Davos. Congressman Michael G. Oxley from Ohio, Nick Minchin, Minister of Finance and Administration, Australia, Hamin bin Faisal Al-Thani, Minister of Finance, Economy and Trade, Qatar, and Congresswoman Jane Harman from California are among the top dignitaries who have confirmed their participation.

The other important event will be a bilateral between the CII and the Canada-India Business Council with the support of the Canadian Government.

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