World leaders to discuss climate change, economic uncertainty at Davos

GENEVA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Climate change, economic uncertainty, energy shortage and food security are among a series of issues world political and business leaders will discuss next week at the annual Davos meeting, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said on Wednesday.

The Geneva-based organization said that its annual meeting in the Swiss mountain resort will be held on Jan. 23-27. The theme of the meeting is "The Power of Collaborative Innovation."

A total of 27 heads of state or government and 113 cabinet ministers will be at the meeting, among them Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fakuda, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Israeli President Shimon Perez and Jose Manual Barroso, President of the European Commission.

Besides, over 1,370 company CEOs or chairmen will attend the meeting. It will also be joined by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other heads of U.N. agencies and international organizations.

"Looking to the future, it becomes readily apparent that complexity, competing interests and scarce resources remain the greatest obstacles to progress on the global agenda in the absence of greater leadership and global stewardship," the WEF said in a statement.

"It is in this challenging context that the WEF will highlight The Power of Collaborative Innovation as the principal theme for the annual meeting 2008 in Davos," the statement said.