GENEVA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- A prime minister, a global nuclear research head, and the chief executive of a blue chip company were among the co-chairs announced Monday for the 2018 annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The WEF said 3,000 leaders from around the world would gather in a collaborative effort to shape the global, regional and industry agendas at its 48th annual meeting from Jan. 23 to 26.
The co-chairs represent both the public and private sectors, taking a principal role in shaping the discussion at the meeting.
They will lend a strong voice to all parts of society, ensuring a multi-stakeholder approach to the program and the impact of the 2018 meeting, said the WEF.
They are Erna Solberg, prime minister of Norway; Fabiola Gianotti, director-general of the Geneva-based European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva; Isabelle Kocher, chief executive officer (CEO) of ENGIE, France, and Sharan Burrow, the general-secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Belgium.
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ginni Rometty, chairman, president, and CEO of IBM Corporation, and Chetna Sinha, founder and chair, Mann Deshi Foundation in India are also among the the co-chairs announced.
"Creating a shared future in a fractured world requires addressing issues on the global agenda in a holistic, interconnected and future-oriented way," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF, on the theme of the 2018 forum.
"Our annual meeting in Davos provides an exceptional platform for collaboration to create new global initiatives," he noted.
WEF said that this year's program would explore the root causes of and pragmatic solutions for the many political, economic and social fractures facing global society today.
