Chirac: Despair like a 'tsunami'
 |  Swiss policemen on patrol at the venue for the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. |
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| | ON CNNI TV | CNNI's programming from Davos includes an hour-long live special debate on the future of democracy in the Middle East, "CNN Connects: Freedom to Choose." With guests including Amre Moussa and Shimon Peres. 2000 GMT Friday January 28, replaying at 1100 and 1900 GMT Saturday January 29.
Two live editions of "World Business Today" from Davos air at 1930 and 2030 GMT Thursday January 27.
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DAVOS, Switzerland -- French President Jacques Chirac has warned that "silent tsunamis" of despair, such as unemployment, are plaguing the world, and called on those attending the World Economic Forum help others.
"The scale of the destruction is a reminder of the fragility of humankind in the face of nature," he said Wednesday, referring to the tsunamis that struck southern Asia, killing at least 157,000.
"This disaster should raise the alarm. Because our world suffers chronically from what has been strikingly called the 'silent tsunamis.'
"Famine. Infectious diseases that decimate the life force of entire continents. Violence and revolt. Regions given over to anarchy. Uncontrolled migratory movements. Rises in extremism, breeding grounds for terrorism."
Chirac canceled his trip to the annual gathering of global political and business leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos because of uncertain weather conditions and delivered his address by video-conference.
In his inaugural "special message" to the five-day meeting, Chirac urged the 2,500 attendees to share an ambition to overcome poverty through market forces and solidarity.
"Left to their own devices, economic forces are blind and contribute to the marginalization of the weakest," he said.
"But if supported by the appropriate rules, trade liberalization and opening up to investment are powerful stimulants for development."
Security was tight around the mountain town. Preparing for any terrorist threat, organizers told The Associated Press that air force planes were ready to shoot down any unauthorized aircraft that stray too close to the 2,250 participants.
Police set up checkpoints on main roads and uniformed officers dotted the streets around the main site of the gathering, AP reported.
Delegates from 96 countries are in Davos for the annual event in which business leaders -- along with more than 20 heads of state or government, 70 cabinet ministers, 50 heads of nongovernmental organizations, as well as cultural, religious and union leaders -- are to discuss global challenges.
According to the forum's Web site, their goal is to "take responsibility for tough choices," which is the theme of the event.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on Wednesday evening expected to focus on global warming and helping Africa.
He is taking part in a plenary session with U2 singer Bono, Bill Gates and presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria on Thursday.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will speak Friday, and Jose Manuel Barroso -- the new president of the European Commission -- will get his first chance to address the world's business leaders Saturday, organizers said.
Newly inaugurated Ukraine President Viktor Yuschenko is scheduled to speak on Friday.
The annual forum has grown in importance in the 1990s as more than just a chance to talk business, compare notes and devise corporate strategy.
Increasingly the high level of participants and wide TV coverage has led to environmental and humanitarian issues being raised.
Celebrities are booked to attend with, in addition to Bono, Angelina Jolie, Richard Gere attempting to focus minds on how the world's eight richest countries, the Group of Eight industrial countries, can do more to reduce poverty and fight AIDS.
The forum is organized into a tightly packed choice of 220 sessions from breakfast time until midnight.
Planned discussions range from heavy discussions on the world economy or individual country's problems and prospects to more self-centered themes like "knowing your own mind."
Launching the event at a news conference at the World Economic Forum's headquarters in Geneva, founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab said 2005 was a crucial time for the world and its leaders.
"There are a number of new beginnings, from the new presidency of the European Commission, to the election of a new president for the Palestinian Authority, to the coming elections in Iraq, to the new leadership in Ukraine.
"Leaders from all sectors of society will come to Davos this year to work on ways to consolidate and build on these new beginnings to improve the state of the world. What is needed is 'pragmatic optimism', the resolve to work with the world we have, to make a world as it should be."
A "cultural leaders dinner" Friday gives participants a chance to meet with Gere, who has campaigned for Tibetan rights, and Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, who has witnessed the problems of people fleeing persecution. The other scheduled guests include Sharon Stone and Carole Bouquet.
Bono, Clinton and Gates will meet with Blair, South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to discuss "The G8 and Africa -- Rhetoric or Action?"
Key U.S. leaders absent
The forum has been a favorite of top U.S. administration officials in recent years, including Vice President Dick Cheney and former President Bill Clinton, but this year's event will be dominated by top European leaders as key U.S. officials stay away because of personnel changes in the Bush administration, organizers said. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao is scheduled to attend, the only member of Bush's cabinet.
The U.S. Senate is assuring an American presence, however, with a delegation of 10 members headed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
Ahead of the start of the forum, a survey released by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 41 percent of corporate leaders said they were "very confident" of boosting revenue in the coming year, up from 31 percent a year ago, according to AP.
The survey of 1,300 chief executives worldwide also found that oscillating oil prices and fears of losing good talent were evident, but worries about terrorism appeared to wane compared with 2004.
CEOs in the United States, Asia and South America were "considerably more optimistic" about the potential for revenue growth than their counterparts in Europe, added Samuel DiPiazza, CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd., presenting the survey.
The Davos Economic Forum began in 1970 as a meeting of European CEOs brought together by Klaus Schwab.
A year later, the meeting became known as the "Davos Symposium" with the patronage of the Commission of the European Communities, as well as the encouragement of Europe's industry associations.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
