Michèle Mischler, Associate Director, Tel.: +41 (0)79 571 8225; michele.mischler@weforum.org

Davos, Switzerland, 18 January 2013 - The World Economic Forum's Open Forum Davos series of public debates, held in Davos, Switzerland, between 23 and 26 January 2013, enters its 11th year of offering the public high-quality panellists and a rich range of subjects.

Upholding its tradition of embracing a controversial and eclectic range of issues, the 2013 Open Forum will comprise seven debates on matters of local, national and international interest. As in previous Open Forums, each session has been designed to bring out the widest range of voices, the most compelling ideas and maximum interaction with the audience.

Some of the leading personalities who will participate in the Open Forum are:

  • Paul Bulcke, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé, Switzerland
  • Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Brussels
  • Kris Gopalakrishnan, Executive Co-Chairman, Infosys, India
  • Vittorio Grilli, Minister of Economy and Finance of Italy
  • Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation and Federal Councillor of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports of the Swiss Confederation
  • Robin Niblett, Director, Chatham House, United Kingdom
  • Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden
  • Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva
  • Guido Westerwelle, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany

The following topics will be discussed at the Open Forum:


Wednesday 23 January

12.30 - 14.00     NGOs as New Models for the 21st Century
19.00 - 20.30     Unemployed or Unemployable?


Thursday 24 January
12.30 - 14.00     Mega Sporting Events - In Whose Interest?
19.00 - 20.30     Life Lessons from Jazz - Improvisation as a Way of Life


Friday 25 January

12.30 - 14.00     Is Religion Outdated in the 21st Century?
19.00 - 20.30     Eurozone - Solidarity or Domination?

Saturday 26 January
11:00 - 12:30     War Against Obesity - Fat Invoice?

As in previous years, Open Forum Davos 2013 will be held at the Swiss Alpine Mittelschule, Guggerbachstrasse 3, Davos Platz. Though no registration is required, those wishing to participate in the audience are encouraged to arrive early, as the maximum capacity of the auditorium is 300. For those unable to take part, all sessions will be livestreamed on the Open Forum website www.openforumdavos.ch.

You can also follow the debates using the Open Forum Twitter account: @OpenForumDavos#WEF #OFD.

Some of the sessions will be broadcast by Swiss Television (SF-info), available at YouTubeafter the event.

Notes to Editors

More information about the Annual Meeting 2013 is available at http://wef.ch/davos2013
View the best photographs from the Annual Meeting on Flickr at  http://wef.ch/davos13pix
Free media access to the Forum press photo archive Swiss-Image at  http://wef.ch/pics
Watch live webcasts of sessions at  http://wef.ch/live  and on demand at  http://wef.ch/davos13video
Watch opinions and analysis of key sessions at  http://wef.ch/AM13insights
Watch the sessions on demand on YouTube at  http://wef.ch/youtube  or  http://wef.ch/youku
Become a fan of the Forum on Facebook at  http://wef.ch/facebook
Read the summaries of sessions at  http://wef.ch/davos13sessions
Follow the Forum on Twitter at  http://wef.ch/twitter  and  http://wef.ch/livetweet(hashtag #WEF)
 Read the Forum:Blog at  http://wef.ch/blog
Follow the Forum on Google+ at  http://wef.ch/gplus
The Forum Media App is available here  http://wef.ch/apps

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