Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bono, and Bill Gates are among business leaders, politicians and campaigners gathering at a five-day talking shop in the Swiss Alps.

The World Economic Forum kicked off yesterday in Davos, with the agenda dominated by issues like climate change, the rise of Asia, and the next web revolution.

More than 30 trade ministers will meet on the sidelines in the hope of reviving stalled global trade talks.

They will discuss the geopolitical changes that have resulted in an "increasingly schizophrenic world" that is "harder and harder to understand", said the forum's founder Professor Klaus Schwab.

Many of the forum's key events will focus on big politics, like the war in Iraq and the fight against terrorism.

Most of the sessions, however, cater to the needs of company bosses, who will tackle topics like activist investment funds, the recent commodities boom and the rise of new internet technologies.

Among the business leaders at this year's World Economic Forum will be the bosses of more than 70 of the world's 100 largest companies, who will be joined by technology pioneers, social entrepreneurs running not-for-profit companies, and campaigners from organisations like Greenpeace, Oxfam and Islamic Relief.

The official theme of the Davos meeting is "The shifting power equation", and the forum's agenda suggests that this is happening across all aspects of our life.