Our Bureau

New Delhi , Jan. 23

THE Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, would lead the Indian delegation at the 2005 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The WEF's Davos Summit is to be held from January 26 to 30.

He would also represent the country at the mini-Ministerial of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to be hosted by the Swiss Government at Davos on January 29.

More than 30 trade ministers from WTO-member countries including the US, the European Union and China are expected to participate in the mini-ministerial meeting. Preceding the mini-ministerial, there would also be a meeting of the G-20 ministers in Davos.

Besides Mr Kamal Nath, the other members of the delegation are the Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development, Mr Kapil Sibal, and the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Dr Rakesh Mohan.

Accompanying them will be a 50-member delegation organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) comprising leaders of industry, academicians and social entrepreneurs.

An official release said that Mr Kamal Nath would address four sessions at the WEF. These are `India meets Doha', which would focus on the WTO agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the context of healthcare and its implications for research and development and the Indian pharma industry; `Beijing and Delhi— Navigating New Territories' along with the Chinese Trade Minister and other panellists highlighting opportunities for investment in China and India.

The Commerce Minister would also participate in an interactive business session titled `India's bigger, better business horizons', which will discuss foreign direct investment (FDI), the current status of reforms, the new growth opportunities and the Government support to investment; and the `Business interaction group-India', a session of CEOs with the Minister.

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