Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were among the Norwegian elite joining other royals, politicians, business and community leaders and economists at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Norway’s crown prince has been a fixture at the event for several years in a row.
The World Economic Forum draws the globe’s movers and shakers to the fashionable village in the Swiss Alps to discuss global finance, development, trends and, most recently, the euro crisis. No major decisions are made, but there’s a lot of mingling and sharing of ideas and initiatives that can be put into motion later.
The Norwegian royal couple planned to stay in Davos through the weekend while others come for just a day or two. Among political leaders attending were Russian Prime Minister Dimtri Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Norway’s own prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg.
Business leaders due to show up included the chief executives of Coca-Cola and Shell Oil plus Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who’s been in Norway early this week for talks with Stoltenberg, to further their joint vaccination project. Many Norwegian business leaders attended the powerful networking sessions as well.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was also to make an appearance along with a large EU delegation to discuss the euro crisis. The International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde was there, as was the head of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim and the head of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy.
Also attending from Norway, according to news bureau NTB, were Oil & Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe and Trade Minister Trond Giske. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide planned to go to Davos, too, but his participation was tentative because of the press of other duties. He ended up joining the others who made the gathering a priority.
newsinenglish.no staff
