Jaitley to skip World Economic Forum at Davos

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will give the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss town of Davos a miss since he is busy with the Union Budget to be presented on February 1.

Jaitley was supposed to accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi who arived in Switzerland on Monday to attend the WEF.

"The Finance Minister's visit was tentative since the event is very close to the Budget and also because the Asean summit is going on here in the capital. Even last year, he was not able to attend," a Finance Ministry official told IANS.

The main event in Davos will be the keynote speech of Modi at the plenary session on Tuesday.

Modi will also interact with 120 members of the International Business Council, which is a part of the WEF. He will also interact with CEOs of Indian companies.

Apart from Modi, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Development of the Northestern Region Jitendra Singh, and Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar will participate in different sessions of the annual event.

--IANS

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