The 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to take place on 23-26 January 2018 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland will bring together a record number of heads of state, government and international organizations alongside leaders from business, civil society, academia, the arts and media, according to the WEF website.

Convening participants under the theme, "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World", the meeting will focus on finding ways to reaffirm international cooperation on crucial shared interests, such as international security, the environment and the global economy. The meeting comes at a time when geostrategic competition between states is generally seen to be on the rise.

Alongside international cooperation, an additional priority of the meeting will be to overcome divisions within countries.

"Our world has become fractured by increasing competition between nations and deep divides within societies. Yet the sheer scale of the challenges our world faces makes concerted, collaborative and integrated action more essential than ever. Our Annual Meeting aims to overcome these fault lines by reasserting shared interests among nations and securing multistakeholder commitment to renewing social contracts through inclusive growth," said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

This year's opening address will be delivered by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, will deliver a keynote address before the close of the meeting. This year a record number of leaders from G7 economies will participate, including Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, in addition to President Trump. As well as Prime Minister Modi, other leaders from the G20 include Liu He, Member, Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee; General Office Director, Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, People's Republic of China; Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina, Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy President of South Africa; and Michel Temer, President of Brazil. From the host country, Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation, will also participate.

Overall, the annual meeting will feature over 340 top political leaders with 10 heads of state and government from Africa, nine from the Middle East and North Africa and six from Latin America. Leaders from international organizations include Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO), Angel Gurría, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Zeid Ra'ad Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank, Miroslav Lajcák, President of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, United Nations, Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO).

AZERTAC