Switzerland

English/Nat Top executives from some of the world's largest corporations have gathered in the Alpine resort of Davos for an annual meeting with government leaders. U-S President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are among the 300 politicians taking part in the six-day session. The heads of Ford Motor Company, B-P Amoco and Dell Computer are among the business chiefs who will attend the World Economic Forum, created 30 years ago by a Geneva-based foundation. Davos is used to hoards of foreign tourists who flood into the town at this time of year for a few days' on the ski slopes. But now the Swiss Alpine resort is seeing the arrival of some visitors with a very different agenda. The World Economic Forum opened here on Thursday. Among the first to arrive was Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit. He will be joined over the six days by other world leaders, including U-S President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and South African President Thabo Mbeki. They will be joined by 12-hundred top business leaders, including Bill Gates of Microsoft and Steve Case of America Online. The fear is that anti-capitalist protesters will seek to disrupt the summit, just as they did at last year's World Trade Organisation congress in Seattle. Activists say they are ready to defy a ban on protests and will go ahead with a demonstration during Clinton's visit on Saturday. Inside the World Economic Forum venue, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa was among those here for the first day of business. The annual event has developed a reputation as an opportunity for corporate chiefs to make deals among themselves. But the meeting's main purpose is to give leaders a chance to discuss subjects ranging from business challenges to scientific breakthroughs and social problems. The forum kicked off with the Swiss President warning that free trade must be people-friendly. SOUNDBITE: (English translation) "Politics must now have a more global reach, and we need to have global rules for economic development. Only this way will people no longer feel powerless vis-a-vis economic forces, and only in this way will citizens be able to participate in the international economic order - an order which is not just something which aims at achieving profit for share holders but which also secures freedom and justice. And only in this way will it be possible for a common belief in progress to become stronger than people's anxiety and their anger." SUPER CAPTION: Adolf Ogi, Swiss President The future of globalisation, genetic engineering and the German economy are amongst the topics of discussion at this year's forum. Other sessions include brain-body links, adventure, life on earth, privatisation and the perception of beauty. Clinton flies in Saturday for just a few hours - the first visit by a U-S president. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/fcef3b777f7f241de2c90fdffde2d88d Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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