The World Economic Forum annual meeting, known familiarly as simply Davos, opens Tuesday, January 28th, 2009 and runs through February 1st, 2009 in Davos, Switzerland. This year, the majority of participants and, indeed, the focus of many of the topics is governmental. An unprecedented number of governments around the globe are involved in efforts like never before in private industry within their states, whether by nationalization, direct investment, or bailout efforts.

Founder and Executive Chairman of the forum Jan Klaus Schwab promises that this year’s event will be one of the most important events in the forum’s history. More than 40 heads of state and government have committed to participate along with NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations) and Trade Unions, and a steady flow of business participants– albeit the business presence is expected to be minimized significantly this year due to economic pressures and the fall of many of Wall Streets’ financial firms. According to event officials the meeting will be focused on managing the current global economic crisis using a systematic approach to improve the state of the world and shaping the entire post-crisis agenda, from economic reform to climate change.

In preparation for this year’s annual event, over 700 members from 69 so-called “Global Agenda Councils” met in November of 2008 in Dubai to formulate and move forward solutions to some of the most formidable problems of the day facing the world. The work of the council formulates many of the presented solutions at the 5-day event. Over 2,500 participants from 96 countries are expected to meet in Davos, with registration information indicating that 56% are business leaders, drawn principally from the Forum’s 1,000 members. More than 1,400 chief executives and chairpersons from the world’s leading companies are participating this year, the highest ever since the World Economic Forum was founded in 1971. Additional participants include 41 heads of state or government, 60 ministers, 30 heads or senior officials of international organizations and 10 ambassadors. An academic presence of 215 leaders and think tanks, and various religious leaders are also expected to make their presence known in participatory sessions.

Notable co-chair Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations (1997-2006) is expected to be present, along with Rupert Murdoch, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the News Corporation, Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive, Royal Dutch Shell plc
Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Board of Management, Bayer, Germany. British Premier Gordon Brown is expected to participate as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.