Queen Maxima, PM lead Dutch delegation to Davos

Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte will head the Dutch delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The theme for this 48th edition of the WEF, taking place from Tuesday to Thursday, is 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World'.

Other cabinet members taking part in the forum are Minister Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs, Minister Sigrid Kaag of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance, and Minister Bruno Bruins of Medical Care and Sport.

Queen Maxima is taking part in the WEF in her capacity as special advocate for the Secretary-General of the United Nations for inclusive financing for development. She will discuss, among other things, improving access to financial services with government representatives from a number of countries, central bank officials, and representatives from FinTech organizations and industry.

The Dutch queen has been working worldwide since 2009 to make financial services accessible to everyone, including people with low income and small and medium sized businesses, and thereby increase their chances of economic and social development. The World Bank Group considers good access to financial services such as bank- or savings accounts, loans, insurance or pensions, of great importance for economic development of people. Yet around 2 billion people around the world can not make use of financial services.

Under the theme of Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World, the WEF this year wants to address the current pressure on the economic dependency that has existed between different countries since the end of the 20th century. "The fractures that have arisen on the political, economic and social level must not lead to intolerance, indecision and inactivity", the WEF said, according to NU.nl. The forum advocates for "sustainable and inclusive growth" in the economic field.

The WEF is an annual international meeting in which about 2 thousand politicians, representatives of the business community and international organizations, academics, civil society organizations and journalists participate. Dutch speakers at this year's forum include Philips CEO Frans van Houten, DSM CEO Feike Sybesma, and former European Commissioner Neelie Kroes.