Prime Minister to meet global business leaders in Davos

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and a small Georgian delegation are set to attend meetings with the heads of nine of the world's largest companies and the leaders of five countries and discuss the prospects of future cooperation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

The event's official schedule noted Garibashvili would meet representatives of global companies who were mainly involved in agriculture, oil, energy, information technologies (IT) and commodities.

A Georgian delegation, led by Prime Minister, travelled to Davos, Switzerland, today to discuss with world leaders how to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation.

Davos, a Swiss ski resort, is home to the annual World Economic Forum meeting. This year the four-day event will begin on January 21, 2015.

Garibashvili will begin his official meetings tomorrow, January 21. His first meeting will see him meet Cyrus Mistry, head of Tata Sons Ltd of India. Tata Sons Ltd is the holding company of Tata Group, which is a global enterprise headquartered in India. Tata Group has already entered Georgia and is involved in implementing a hydro power project in the country.

In Davos Garibashvili will also meet head of the French company Louis Dreyfus Group, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus. The French-based global business is involved in agriculture, oil, energy and commodities.

Garibashvili's next meeting is scheduled with the general director of Hanwha Group, Dong Kwan Kim - one of the largest business groups in South Korea and is involved in manufacturing and trading.

Next Garibashvili will meet the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tech Mahindra, Vineet Nayyar. Tech Mahindra is an Indian multinational provider of information technology, networking technology solutions and business support services to the telecommunication industry.

A meeting with the vice president of HCL Technology, Ashish Gupta, is also scheduled. Gupta represents an Indian global IT services company.

Later, Garibashvili will meet Martin Gilbert, CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, which is an international investment management group who manage assets for institutions and private investors from offices around the world.

The official schedule noted Garibashvili will meet the co-founder of CVC Capital Partners, Steve Kolters. CVC Capital Partners is a private equity firm that focuses on management buyouts. The Georgian PM will also meet Robert Dudley, CEO of oil and gas company British Petroleum (BP).

A meeting with head of Indian steel and energy company Jindal Steel and Power, Naveen Jindal, is also scheduled, as is a meeting with Peter Terium, director of RWE AG Company - a German electric utilities company.

During the Forum the Georgian PM has been invited to attend a private reception of the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab. Garibashvili was also scheduled to give a speech at the session on Travel and Trade in a High-Risk Era. The Georgian official will also attend a session about The New Global Context for Strategic Competition.

Within the framework of World Economic Forum, Garibashvili will attend the first European Games Reception where he will meet the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The official schedule noted Garibashvili would participate in an informal meeting of world leaders to define economic priorities for the 2015 year.

There Garibashvili will meet the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel and president of Panama Juan Carlos Varela.

He will also give interviews and make press statements for international media.

Garibashvili is being accompanied to Davos by Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister, Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili, head of the Co-Investment Foundation Giorgi Bachiashvili, head of the National Investment Agency Giorgi Pertaia and director general of Georgian Railways Mamuka Bakhtadze.