Davos 2009

By James Hall

Forty one heads of state, 60 ministers, 10 ambassadors, 1,400 chairmen and chief executives and one global financial meltdown. Welcome to Davos 2009.

Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), has already said that this year's meeting, which starts on Wednesday, will be the most important in the WEF's 39-year history.

As the 2,500 participants start to make their way to the Alpine resort this weekend, they can expect a more sombre, urgent, business-like meeting than in previous years.

It won't be hard. In recent years Davos has become as famed for its parties as its programme of speakers. Last year, Arcelor's Lakshmi Mittal hired Jamie Cullum, the jazz musician, to play at the resort's Belvedere Hotel, while singer Annie Lennox flew in for a separate bash.

Stephen Roach, the chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, has reportedly said that parties at Davos this year "will be few and far between". "We're at an unbelievably critical juncture in the global economy debate. This will not be a normal year at Davos," he said.

Other regular attendees are less certain. "It's Davos. These people are rich. Of course there will be parties," said one.

But whatever the party count, the event's tone will differ dramatically from previous years.

Entitled Shaping the Post-Crisis World, this year's Forum will focus on how governments, countries, continents and businesses can stabilise and revive the global financial system. The chatter is expected to major on bail-outs, regulation, remuneration and protectionism. But not in a conceptual way. This is the first time that all the big stakeholders in the world's financial system – bank chiefs, prime ministers, corporate chairmen – will have a chance to meet on a grand scale since the bottom fell out of their world four months ago.

"There will be lots of discussions behind the scenes and lots of cross-checking: 'what are you seeing in your place?', 'what is working?" said Mark Spelman, head of global strategy at Accenture, who is about to attend his fifth Davos.

"The mood is going to be somewhat sober," he said.

Mr Spelman believes that there will be three main talking points: how liquidity can be re-introduced to the banking system, what should be done to mitigate unemployment, and what the slowdown means for efforts to create a low-carbon economy.

Most big-hitters will be there. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will deliver the opening address. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend too.

Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC and Sir Victor Blank, the chairman of Lloyds TSB, will be there, as will be economists such as Nouriel Roubini, the so-called "Dr Doom" economist who predicted the current slowdown. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citigroup, will also attend.

As ever, a smattering of celebrities will be braving the cold. Singer Peter Gabriel, and actors Jet Li and Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood superstar, will be there. And the Mayor of London Boris Johnson will fly the flag for the UK.

But among the 2,500 attendees from 96 countries, there is one person whose presence would turn Davos from an high-level summit into a truly global event.

President Obama was never set to attend but it has not stopped commentators from dreaming. In reality, a number of his key senior staff are expected to travel to Switzerland. Timothy Geithner, President Obama's Treasury Secretary, and Lawrence Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, were both on the WEF's "registered participants" list on Friday and are likely to be there.

Despite the cold economic winds blowing through Davos, these men are likely to receive the warmest reception of the week.