Biz leaders, policymakers to discuss global economic scenario at Davos

Davos, Jan 24 (PTI) Top business leaders and policy-makers from India will join the rich and powerful from across the globe in this snow-laden Swiss mountain town to discuss the state of affairs of the world economy at their five-day World Economic Forum annual congregation, beginning tomorrow. While the Indian team, comprising top CEOs like Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji, Adi Godrej, Rahul Bajaj and Sunil Mittal, as also Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, will get an opportunity to present the India growth story on a global platform -- the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2012 -- the discussions about global economic scenario are most likely to remain gloomy. The Indian economy has also not remained untouched by the global upheavals, mainly in Europe, and its growth rate in the July-September quarter was slowest in more than two years. Also, the GDP growth for the current 2011-12 fiscal ending March 31 is feared to slip to near 7 per cent, or even below, as against earlier projections of 7.5 per cent. Still, the Indian economic growth rate remains robust, especially in the backdrop of the deteriorating global conditions, although the concerns of slower economic reforms and a sense of policy paralysis has affected the business sentiments. A senior Indian delegate attending the meeting said that it would be interesting to watch whether the business leaders from India would raise the issue of policy paralysis and slowing pace of reforms at Davos WEF meeting as well, or they would continue with their usual praise for the Indian growth story. More than 100 Indian business leaders are expected to be present here, making them one of the largest teams after the likes of the US, the UK and Japan. While the exact numbers for other countries were not available, the number of business leaders from China is also expected to be lower. Ahead of the event, the organisers, the WEF has released its latest Global Confidence Index, that shows that the majority of the global experts are fearing a geopolitical disruption in 2012. "Fear among international experts of a major geopolitical disruption over the next 12 months has risen significantly to 54 per cent, just as confidence in the state of global cooperation has dropped," found the WEF's third Global Confidence Index. The respondents also remain pessimistic about the global economic outlook, as the crisis of confidence reflected in the previous two quarters continues unabated. A consistent 60 per cent of respondents said they lacked confidence in the state of global governance, signalling little trust in political leadership to deal with global risks. Global leaders expected to be present here include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, as also the chiefs of organisations like IMF, World Bank, OECD and WTO. WEF, a Geneva-based non-profit organisation, has been holding this Annual Meeting here for over four decades now. Close to 40 heads of state or government from across the world are attending the meeting this year. WEF is anticipating a record of over 2,600 participants this year, including more than 1,600 business leaders from across the world. Ahead of the meeting, themed 'The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models', WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said that "capitalism, in its current form, no longer fits the world around us. We have failed to learn the lessons from the financial crisis of 2009." "A global transformation is urgently needed and it must start with reinstating a global sense of social responsibility," Schwab said. PTI