Cape Town – The organisers of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters in Switzerland have described this year's event as the "most diverse participation ever".
In a statement ahead of the annual meeting, WEF said one third of all participants this year were coming from outside Europe and North America, while one third represented society outside of business and government.
Asked about this diversity of voices, Brand SA CEO Dr Kingsley Makhubela said that he was really keen on seeing the level of participation from the non-governmental sector from developing countries.
"We need their voices, to hear what are their challenges," he said.
"Efforts to reach out to more NGOs will be fantastic."
However, he decried the "exorbitant amounts" it cost to attend the WEF annual gathering which sees over 3 000 leaders from government, business and civil society gather to seek to address critical leadership challenges.
Under the theme "Responsive and Responsible Leadership", the 47th annual WEF will focus on four leadership challenges for 2017 – re-imagining global cooperation, revitalising the global economy, reforming capitalism and preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The meeting takes place from January 17 to January 20.
African News Agency (ANA)