WEF to Open Six Sessions for General Public

Davos: As the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting begins here on a sunny day on Tuesday after days of heavy snowfall, six sessions will be open for the general public at the highly secured and otherwise invitation-only summit.

WEF calls it 'Open Forum Davos' and the six sessions would dwell on current affairs, globalisation, immigration, religion, democracy and pandemics.

Each session is designed to offer a platform for debate and interaction on controversial topics between the public and scholars, business leaders and policy-makers, WEF said.

As the WEF meet began, the temperatures rose after many days of heavy snowfall in this small ski resort town on slopes of Alps, but still remained near minus ten degree celsius even during daytime.

Leading personalities who will participate in Open Forum include Kofi Annan, Tony Blair, as also Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke, Colorado (US) Governor John W Hickenlooper, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klychko, Sweden Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, ILO chief Guy Ryder and Swiss Confederation President-Elect Simonetta Sommaruga.

Though no registration is required for Open Forum sessions, those wishing to participate have been asked to arrive early as the maximum capacity of the auditorium is 300.

For those unable to take part, all sessions will be live-streamed on the Open Forum website.