Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, will lead India's presence at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to be held between January 26 and January 30.

In addition, the Confederation of Indian Industry will also have a 50- member strong delegation comprising industry leaders, media leaders, academicians and social entrepreneurs in Davos.

CII President Sunil Kant Munjal will lead the CII team which will include N Srinivasan, CII Director General, and Tarun Das, CII Chief Mentor.

• India and the World Economic Forum: Complete Coverage

Among the prominent industrialists attending the Davos meeting are Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Ltd [Get Quote]; Nandan Nilekani, Chief Executive Officer, Infosys Technologies [Get Quote]; Rahul Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Auto [Get Quote] Limited; K V Kamath, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI [Get Quote] Limited; Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman, The UB Group; Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Industries [Get Quote]; J N Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd; Brian Tempest, Managing and CEO, Ranbaxy [Get Quote]; and Rajendra Pawar, Chairman, NIIT [Get Quote] Limited, among others.

Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development, Government of India and Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, are also a part of the senior government leaders participating in the meeting.

Kamal Nath will speak at a session on 'Beijing and Delhi: Navigating New Territories' and discuss the rapid growth of Chinese and Indian market presenting a wealth of opportunities for retailers and manufacturers.

Nath will also meet some of the top CEOs in a special interactive session called the business interaction group and discuss with them the foreign direct investments in India.

Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal will be speaking at a session on 'India Meets Doha' which will discuss the WTO/TRIPS agreements related to healthcare industry and its implications on India's research and development and intellectual property rights.

Over the course of the five-day meeting, more than 2,250 participants from 96 countries will convene in Davos, including more than 20 heads of state or government, 70 cabinet ministers, 26 religious leaders, 15 union leaders and more than 50 heads of non-governmental organizations.

Around 50 per cent 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.

The CII coordinates the 'India Presence' at the annual meeting of WEF, which is held every year in Davos and at all the regional summits worldwide.

CII is also the co-partner to the WEF for the annual India Economic Summit, which this year will be the 21st in succession and will be held between 26-29 November in New Delhi.