Putin in Davos

On 28 January, 2009 the World Economic Forum was launched in Davos, Switzerland.

The Forum is being held under the world economic crisis; hence, anti-crisis policy is going to be the core issue of the meeting.

Remind that, the World Economic Forum is a non-governmental international organization, founded in 1971 when 450 European business leaders met under the partronage of the European Commission and European industrial associations in Geneva. In 1971-1986 the forum was called European Management Forum.

Today, issues raised and discussed in Davos come to be the international economic development vectors.
Participation of about 2500 politicians, international business and financial leaders, presidents, government representatives, as well as heads of international leading organizations is conditioned by the seriousness of the present world economic situation.

Among the core issues to be raised at the meeting are the ways of overcoming global economic crisis, as well as the mechanisms to be worked out to prevent its re-occurrence.

For the first time in the World Economic Forum history the keynote address at the opening of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland was given by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In his speech Putin referred to the factors that brought about the global crisis and the Russian anti-crisis policy.

In his address Russian Prime Minister made emphasis on several issues, particularly saying that «the world economic-financial crisis came to prove the incapacity of financial-economic system». According to him, «to protect international economy sector, we must write off all hopeless debts and bad assets».

Putin suggests «rejecting protectionism and diminshing state role in economy» as a mechanism to overcome crisis.