"Committed to improving the state of the world" is the World Economic Forum's mission statement. Each year that statement is challenged at a meeting called "The Davos Meeting." The theme of this year's meeting which took place from January 26th - 30th 2005, was "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices."

Last night, the 35th annual conference came to a close after attracting 2,346 of the world's biggest movers and shakers. Those who can affect significant change, or at least increase awareness about the world's largest challenges, include executives, presidents, politicians, social entrepreneurs, leaders of countries, royalty and celebrities with a cause.

A significant portion of the leaders in attendance came from the private sector.

Those from the private sector comprise 1,000 of the world's largest and most prestigious companies.

The others in attendance included government (including several heads of state, and former heads of state such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton), community and faith leaders.

787 delegates, called "Davos Virgins" were there for the first time. 54 had previously attended the meeting ten or more times.

WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab urged all those in attendance to undertake responsibility in three areas:

responsibility towards their local environment and country,
responsibility towards the world, and
responsibility towards the next generation.

Last night, Schwab said in his closing remarks, if business and government leaders could become responsible in these areas, all the five major issues identified earlier as the most critical challenges before the world could be tackled.

The five issues that emerged after deliberations at different sessions were:

• Poverty
• Equitable globalization
• Climate change
• Education
• Global governance

The rich and powerful in attendance this week named poverty the world's No. 1 challenge.

Over 100 debates, discussions and 200 workshops were held. Many of the sessions from last week's meetings are available via webcast.

Some of the titles include:

The Global Economy

U.S. Leadership

Marketing AIDS

The Noble Purpose of Business

Modernization without Westernization

The Role of The U.S. in World Affairs

Leading The Great Company

Managing the Chinese Economy's Pressure Points

Entrepreneurship: The Key for Development

Special Messages from Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair, Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, Bill Clinton, Gerhard Schroder, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Victor Yushchenko, Huang Ju, Jose Manuel Barroso

Angelina Jolie in Switzerland

At this year's Davos Meeting, the World Economic Forum also starred Microsoft founder Bill Gates, musicians Bono, Lionel Richie and Peter Gabriel, and actors Sharon Stone, Angelina Jolie and Richard Gere, to name seven of the 2,346.

A Synergistic Meeting of Academia, Government, Religion, The Media, Non-Governmental Organizations and The Arts

The Davos Meeting is an annual event held in Davos, Switzerland.

It began as the Davos Symposium in 1971.

Klaus Schwab, a Swiss professor of Business Administration at the University of Geneva, founded the World Economic Forum as a not-for-profit foundation.

Over the past thirty years the WEF has turned into one of the foremost global partnerships of leaders of society.

The World Economic Forum is a community of business, political, intellectual and other leaders who are committed to improving the state of the world.

The Forum is an independent, not-for-profit organization which brings these leaders together to work on projects that improve people’s lives.

No matter where they come from or what their agenda all are serious about helping those less fortunate than themselves.

While the WEF organization is based in Geneva, their annual meeting is held at the Davos ski resort in Switzerland.

Those who pay the annual dues of $37,500 are invited to take part in the intensive five-day program which includes workshops and interview-style panel discussions that focus on crucial global, regional and industry issues.

This year, 5,000 police and soldiers were deployed to ensure security in and around the alpine resort.

Session 2005 topics included: U.S. leadership, malaria, the Chinese economy, to name a few.

On Wednesday, AIDS and global warming were the main topics.

On Thursday, poverty reduction and the plight of Africa topped the agenda.

Davos is also a place where business and famous celebrities -- outside the business world -- schmooze side-by-side.

This is the place to network with fellow famous, rich and successful A-list leaders.

Accenture, Compaq Computer Corp. and Microsoft made it easier to connect with those in attendance. Together, they provided more than 2,000 custom personal digital assistants called "Davos Companions".

The Davos Companion had new functionality this year, including the ability to add/delete entries on personal agendas and synchronize changes directly onto a kiosk system.

They also added a "personalized news channels" function which allowed participants to specify which news channels they wanted to view on the device, choosing from 25 channels covering Reuters Online news reports from around the world.

For the 2005 Annual Meeting, Accenture added mobile kiosks running on tablet PCs (notebook PCs with pen and handwriting recognition capability), and two digital pen and paper applications to the repertoire of communication solutions.

Why Davos Virgins Return Year-After-Year

For over 30 years Schwartz has been bringing together global leaders, from all walks of life, to pursue economic and social activity that will improve the state of the world.

If you've never been to World Economic Forum meeting you are called a "Davos Virgin." Once initiated, those who are invited tend to return again and again.

Why do they come?

They recognize that it takes more than one government, company or group to solve a major issue.

Davos 2005 Participation Breakdown by Country

To view an enlarged version of this map, please go to:

Here is what was said about this week's meeting:

It really opens your mind and makes you focus on issues that one doesn't always think about.

It provides a unique opportunity to think about bigger issues such as globalization and health care and world peace.

Marc Benioff, boss of salesforce.com - one of the world's fastest growing software firms - comes here "to get a personal higher consciousness, get ideas how to do things for my foundation and my business".

Van Jones, founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, is excited because "at the grassroots, people have these stereotypes about business leaders, but in reality they are very aware of global problems, and themselves overwhelmed by their scale".

Michael Tilmant, CEO of Amsterdam-based banking and insurance giant ING Group said:

It's an occasion to get out of my major preoccupations and recharge myself by getting exposed to issues that affect our world.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arguing that his country's acceptance into the European Union would be a 'reconciliation of civilizations' said:

The EU is no longer a union of steel and coal ... it is not a Christian club. It is a totality of political values.

Mikheil Saakashvili, the 34-year-old President of Georgia said:

It's an opportunity to market the former Soviet state to investors and lobby for membership in the European Union.

The conference breeds optimism.

Shimon Peres, Vice-Prime Minister of Israel, told an impromptu late-night session:

I see a real opportunity for peace with the Palestinians.

He said, "This is my 11th Davos, and I must say that the magic has returned to the mountain. What surprised me so pleasantly is not that Mr. Abbas was elected so convincingly…but what surprised me is his implementation. In a few days he changed the whole atmosphere."

The Who's Who of People Who Care About The World's Future

Those in attendance at the 2005 Davos Meeting included:

Political Leaders

Tony Blair, Prime Minister of The United Kingdom
Jacques Chirac, President of France
Bill Clinton, Former U.S. President
Chung Dong-Young, Minister of Unification of the Republic of Korea
John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
Huang Ju, Executive Vice-Premier of China
Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland
Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa,
Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria
Sadako Ogata, President Japan International Cooperation Agency
Victor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine

Via video Chirac addressed the forum. He said:

The world suffers chronically from what has been strikingly called the 'silent tsunamis.' Famine. Infectious diseases that decimate the life force of entire continents.

Clinton was at the meeting not only as the 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001), he was there as the founder of the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation.

To learn about Clinton's foundation, his HIV/AIDs initiative and other programs, go to:

As Clinton said:

More than half of the people who come to Davos would not (otherwise) have had serious discussions about these issues. Davos may be the world's biggest talkathon, but, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, talking is better than shooting.

Tony Blair said:

If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda, too.

Royalty

Prince Albert

Michael Dell

Corporate Executives

Ray Bingham, Chairman of Cadence Design Systems

Dr. Steve Booysen, CEO, Absa, South Africa's leading retail bank

Sergey Brin, Co-Founder, Google

Brian Bruce, Group Chief Executive, Murray & Roberts Holdings, South African building and construction company

Pieter Cox from Sasol

Michael Dell, Founder & Chairman, Dell Computer

Carly Fiorina, Chairman and CEO, HP

Bill Gates, Founder & Chairman, Microsoft Corporation

Al Gore, Chairman of General Investment Management, U.S.A.

Craig McCaw, developer of Nextel and McCaw Cellular

Larry Page, Co-Founder, Google

Hector Ruiz, CEO of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Li Ruogu, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China

Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google

John A. Thain, Chief Executive Officer of the New York Stock Exchange, U.S.A.

Daniel Vasella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Novartis, Switzerland

William H. Gates III, Co-Founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chairman & Chief Software Architect of Microsoft said:

Millions of children die in Africa who shouldn't die, who it would be very easy to save.

The fact that we don't apply the resources to the known cures or to finding better cures is really ... the most scandalous issue of our time.

Separately, the technology guru also spoke on the subject of spam.

He said, "Two years from now, spam will be solved." Look for a product next year called Longhorn.

Gates also predicted that school curriculums will be digitized, with students carrying around tablet PCs instead of school books.

Software will become more secure and get smarter, and will be able, for example, to determine whether to route a call to you during an important meeting or take a message.

The business response to the agenda for action was led by Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor, NR Narayana Murthy.

He said:

If we want to see a different world tomorrow, we need to engage younger people in the current debate over poverty, climate change, global governance, equitable globalisation and education.

Social Entrepreneurs

John Bryant , Founder, Chairman & CEO, Operation HOPE, an organization out to eradicate poverty

Web Log / Media Influencers

Loic Le Meur of Six Apart
Alec Hogg, Chairman, Moneyweb
Norm Pearlstine, Editor-in-Chief, Time

One reporter called Davos "an uncanny barometer of global trends."

Each year, the Media represents 20% of all participants at the Davos Annual Meeting.

Philanthropic Investors

George Soros

Paul Allen, Vulcan

Institutional Investors

Stephen Roach, Chief Economist, Morgan Stanley

Roach, in his weekly commentary, said "the world financial markets are not well positioned to cope with two of the biggest issues on this year's macro agenda — a significant move in real short term interest rates in the U.S. and the deeper implications of an eventual shift in China's currency regime."

He said: "Timing is always tricky in this business, but I think the Chinese have put it best: The time to prepare is now."

To read Steve Roach's entire commentary on globalization, go to:

Faith Leaders

Sheikh al-Zafzaf (FL), President, Permanent Committee for Dialogue among Monotheistic Religions

Lord Carey of Clifton, Former Archbishop of Canterbury, United Kingdom

Rabbi David Rosen

Educators & Thought Leaders

Elie Wiesel, Professor of the Humanities, Boston University

Nicholas Negroponte, Professor, MIT

Takatoshi Ito, Economics Professor, Tokyo University

Ito said, "China will keep growing fast at 9% this year." He said, "It reminds me of the Japanese economy in the 1950s and '60s, which grew at 10% for 20 years running."

Artists with a Cause
Ireland's U2 Frontman, Bono
Musician, Peter Gabriel
Actor, Richard Gere
Actress, Angelina Jolie
Actress, Sharon Stone

Bono

Of the many ways Bono is using his celebrity status, first and foremost on his list is to fight poverty through his non-profit organization called "Data".

DATA stands for Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa.

"Basic Instinct" Reaction to The Issue of Malaria in Africa

Last Friday at a Plenary session on poverty, Sharon Stone stood up, offered $10,000 to help fight malaria in Africa and asked if she had any supporters.

In five minutes, Stone raised $1,400,000.

Sharon Stone at Davos WEF 2005, Photo Credit: AFP

Actress Angelina Jolie is also the Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR).

A web log (aka "blog") was created in April 2004 in preparation for this year's 2005 forum.

In fact, last year the forum had an entire panel dedicated to the subject of web logs. Posts were made by Alec Hogg of Moneyweb, David Kirkpatrick of Fortune, Joanna Calmon, Loic Le Meur, EVP & GM of SixApart (the makers of the Movable Type web log publishing platform, the TypePad weblogging service and the recently acquired LiveJournal personal journals community), Rebecca MacKinnon of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Jim Fruchterman of Benetech, Rony Abovitz, CTO, Director and Co-Founder of Z-KAT Inc. and U.S. Congressman, Barney Frank.

Their categories include:

Africa Annual Meeting Arab World Reforms Asia China Business Summit Communities Competitiveness Current Affairs Europe Middle East Oil & Geopolitics Religion Social Entrepreneurs The Future of Business in Europe Weblogs Web/Tech

About The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world.

The Forum provides a collaborative framework for the world's leaders to address global issues, engaging particularly its corporate members in global citizenship.

Unlike the World Bank or the IMF, the WEF does not provide capital to nations in need.

Of the Forum's 1,000 member companies, more than 250 are from the developing world.

The Forum provides member companies, governments and institutions the opportunity to work together to address global challenges.

This opportunity for partnership is based on the belief that no single group can tackle major issues on its own.

Professor Klaus Schwab said:

We are living in times of enormous complexity and fragility in a truly interdependent world. Old recipes and traditional ways to deal with global challenges no longer suffice.

Cooperation at all levels will best meet the challenges facing our planet.

The complexity of Davos mirrors the state of the world.

At the end of each session, Schwab handed each panelist a mountain crystal, saying it was his dream to host a "World Economic Forum in Bethlehem," in a peaceful Middle East, "date to be announced soon".

To learn more about the WEF, go to:

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "taking responsibilty for tough choices" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King

Sharon Stone Follows 'Basic Instinct' at Davos 2005: Actress Raises $1.4M in 5 Minutes.