General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Defense Minister, was invited to the Davos World Forum that to be held in New York from January 31 to 3 February 2002, Emirates’ official news agency (WAM) reported.
Fredrick Cezar, Director of Davos Forum, extended the invitation to Sheikh Mohammad during a meeting held in Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammad and his guest reviewed world economy and the future of inter-trade in the light of the changes that took place on the international stage, said WAM.
For the first time in its 31-year history, the World Economic Forum will conduct the upcoming annual gathering outside of Davos, Switzerland, which has been a unique platform for global dialogue since 1971, said a press release by the World Economic Forum.
Early in November, the organizing committee announced that it would hold its annual meeting in New York instead of Davos, in a move that signals its members' determination to tackle head-on the extraordinary challenges faced by the world after the attacks of 11 September.
Professor Klaus Schwab, president of the Forum, New York Governor George E. Pataki and New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani will formally announce the changed venue today in New York City.
"In these extraordinary times, greater international cooperation is needed to reverse the global economic downturn, eradicate poverty, promote security and enhance cultural understanding. These will be the principal concerns of the 2002 Meeting. We will be looking to participants from business, governments and a wide range of other stakeholders in global society to make a special effort to find solutions for the new world in which we are living," Schwab said in the statement.
Regarding the announcement, Governor George Pataki said, "New York City is one of the great financial, intellectual and cultural capitals of the world, and it's entirely fitting that the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting be held here in 2002 – Albawaba.com
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