WEF agenda summit due to highlight global challenges

DUBAI (Xinhua) - The annual three-day summit on the global agenda by the World Economic Forum (WEF) will kick off here on Sunday with 12 government ministers and two heads of state and 400 business leaders who will discuss headwinds and tailwinds for the global economy.

Briefing the media here on Saturday on this year's summit which since its inception had been hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Sultan Al-Mansoori said more than 1,000 leaders representing governments, business and academic will discuss how the world can work together to benefit of humanity.

Beside WEF founder professor Klaus Schwab, Al-Mansoori is the co-chair of the summit. A top issue, Al-Mansoori said, would be improved social developments in the world, other topics are the ongoing turmoil in some Arab countries, the danger of the spread of the Ebola virus and the dangers for the global environment.

Among the top speakers at the summit are former United States Vice President Al Gore, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Indonesia's Minister of Tourism Mari Pangestu and Claver Gatete, the Minister of Finance and Economic planning of Rwanda.

Among the 400 business leaders to attend, 125 top executives from 79 global companies will participate. Espen Barth Eide, the managing director and WEF member of the managing board said scheduled discussions would not be held without results but every council would present specific policy action plans which are designed to be used in real policy and corporate actions.   

The WEF summit on the global agenda is the session which designs the main topics of discussion for the annual global WEF summit in Davos, Switzerland, which in 2015 will be held from Jan. 21 to 24. The three-day WEF summit will run through November 11.