Heads of B20 to attend Davos meeting


Heads of the B20, which is the business group of the G20, will represent Turkey with Prime Minister Davutoğlu at the 2015 World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting. The meeting is also known as the Davos meeting, since it is held each year in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The Chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) and the B20 Turkey liaison, Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, will represent the Turkish business community along with Güler Sabancı, Ferit Şahenk, Hüsnü Özyeğin and Ali Koç, and the heads of the trade groups among the B20 task forces. Four ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, are also expected to accompany Davutoğlu to the WEF summit, which will be held from Jan. 21-24.B20 Turkey and the TOBB will host two big events at Davos. The first is a session concerning the "Improvement of the G20 Agenda," which will be held on Jan. 22. Babacan will open the session, and Davutoğlu will give the closing keynote speech, which will discuss the priorities set by Turkey as the 2015 secretariat and the related agenda. The second session is scheduled for Jan. 23, which will entail a reception held in honor of Davutoğlu, and that will also host CEOs and representatives of international organizations. During the reception, more than 150 global names in business, governance and humanitarian work will hear about B20 Turkey's plans.B20 Turkey has also established the "International Business World Consultancy Council," something that none of the previous secretariats of the B20 has ever done before, in which various powerful and influential businessmen from G20 countries will participate. The council's CEO will be Muhtar Kent, the CEO of Coca-Cola, and the council will present suggestions of the heads of trade groups among the B20 task forces to the G20 governments. This is the first time that Turkey will be represented at the ministerial level at the summit, six years after the incident that is mostly known as "Erdoğan's one minute," when the-then prime minister and current president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, stormed out of a panel on the war in Gaza after slamming former Israeli President Shimon Peres and the invasion of the Gaza Strip.