The 39th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) will be held in Davos-Kloster, Switzerland, from January 28 to February 1. The following are some facts and figures of the meeting according to a press release of the WEF.

The theme of the meeting is "Shaping the Post-Crisis World."

The meeting's programs will follow six programmatic tracks that are high on the global agenda in 2009, including Promoting Stability in the Financial System and Reviving Global Economic Growth; Ensuring Effective Global, Regional and National Governance for the Long Term; Addressing the Challenges of Sustainability and Development; Shaping the Values and Leadership Principles for a Post-Crisis World; catalyzing the Next Wave of Growth through Innovation, Science and Technology; and Understanding the Implications on Industry Business Models.

The co-chairs of the meeting include:

Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006) and member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum;

Stephen Green, Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings, United Kingdom;

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, India;

Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation, USA;

Maria Ramos, Group Chief Executive, Transnet, South Africa;

Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive, Royal Dutch Shell Plc;

Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Board of Management, Bayer, Germany;

More than 2,500 participants from 96 countries and regions will take part in the annual meeting.

Around 60 percent of the participants are business leaders drawn principally from the Forum's members -- 1,000 of the foremost companies from around the world and across all economic sectors.

A record 41 heads of state or government will also participate in the meeting, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Other public figures include 17 ministers of finance, 19 central bank governors, 22 trade ministers, 16 ministers of foreign affairs, 15 ministers of environment and energy, nine EU commissioners and the heads of 30 international organizations.

Heads of NGOs and labor leaders as well as representatives of world media organizations, will also participate in the meeting.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2009)