DAVOS - Klaus Schwab, Founder
and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, has invited Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas to take part in
next year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting and Energy Summit
scheduled for 23-27 January, in Davos, Switzerland.
The annual meeting is regarded as a key date among international power brokers with politicians, businessmen and even celebrities from the worlds of music and film turning up to mull over economic and development matters. Invitation is strictly by invitation only and none has been forthcoming to Lithuania for some years.
Following recent meetings, some attendees complained that the event was becoming too glamorous, and the 2007 meeting saw a return to a more businesslike approach.
The invitation to Lithuania is significant in that it provides tacit acknowledgment that the country has an important strategic role to play on the international stage, particularly with regard to energy supply.
"The Energy Summit is a unique meeting that brings together the energy
ministers and representatives from 35 of the world's leading energy companies
and 15 of the world's largest energy producing and consuming countries", the invitation says.
In response, Prime Minister
Kirkilas has invited Klaus Schwab to come to Vilnius for a high level
conference on energy issues to take place in October.
