ISLAMABAD  -  Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Kakar arrived in Zurich, Switzerland, to participate in the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Fo­rum (WEF), set to commence in Da­vos from today. The Forum is sched­uled to conclude on January 19.

More than 300 public figures will participate this year, including more than 60 heads of state and govern­ment. There will be strong repre­sentation from all key regions of the world. Upon his arrival in Zurich, Prime Minister Kakar was warmly welcomed by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to Geneva, Ambassa­dor Bilal Ahmed; Pakistan’s Ambas­sador to Switzerland, Amir Shaukat; and senior diplomatic officials.

The PM is scheduled to attend three key thematic events: Prevent­ing an Era of Global Conflicts, Restor­ing Faith in the Global System, and Preventing Economic Fracture.

He will deliver a keynote ad­dress on the theme ‘Trade, Tax, Trillion-Dollar Promise.’

Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar will also hold meetings with gov­ernment and business leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Top political leaders who would be taking part include Chinese Premier Li Qiang, French President Emmanuel Macron, President of EU Com­mission Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of Argentina Javi­er Milei, Han Duck-soo, Prime Minister of Korea; Pedro Sán­chez, Prime Minister of Spain; Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation 2024 and Federal Councillor of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports; Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Presi­dent of Ukraine; Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Bel­gium; Gustavo Francisco Pet­ro Urrego, President of Colom­bia; Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece; Moham­med Shyaa Al Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq; Leo Varad­kar, Taoiseach of Ireland; Bish­er Hani Al Khasawneh, Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; William Samoei Ruto, President of Ken­ya; Najib Mikati, President of the Council of Ministers of Leb­anon; Oyun-Erdene Luvsan­namsrai, Prime Minister of Mongolia; Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands; Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of Nigeria; Andrzej Duda, Pres­ident of Poland; Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar; Aleksandar Vugi?, President of Serbia; Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore; Ranil Wickremes­inghe, President of Sri Lanka; Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel; Srettha Thavi­sin, Prime Minister of Thai­land; Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of Viet Nam.

Antony Blinken, US Secre­tary of State; Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, and representatives from the US Senate and House of Represen­tatives would also participate. Heads of various internation­al organizations including UN Secretary-General Antó­nio Guterres, MD INF Krista­lina Georgieva, Fund; World bank President Ajay S. Banga, DG WTO Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-Gener­al, World Health Organization; Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme will also be tak­ing part.

An estimated 1,600 busi­ness leaders, including 800-plus of the world’s top CEOs and chairs from the World Economic Forum’s Members and Partners, will participate. There will also be more than 150 global innovators, tech pi­oneers and unicorns.

More than 200 members of the Forum’s Global Shapers, Young Global Leaders and So­cial Entrepreneurs communi­ties will join to showcase lo­cal innovations and solutions. Also taking part in the meet­ing will be more than 150 ex­perts and heads of the world’s leading universities, research institutions and think tanks. More than 40 labour, nongov­ernment organization and reli­gious leaders from civil society will take part as well.

Heads of civil society orga­nizations including Kirsten Schuijt, Director-General, WWF International; David Mili­band, President, International Rescue Committee; Luc Trian­gle, General Secretary, Interna­tional Trade Union Confedera­tion; Tirana Hassan, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch would also attend the forum.