Full coverage: Xi Visits Switzerland, Attends WEF Annual Meeting

GENEVA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said Tuesday that a new leadership model based on responsivity and responsibility must be adopted by global leaders in light of the many challenges faced by a rapidly-evolving world.

"As a leader, you have to be responsive, and you have to listen and act with those people who've entrusted you with the issue," Schwab told the press ahead of WEF's 47th annual meeting in the Swiss city of Davos between Jan. 17-20.

"But it's not enough to listen, you also have to be responsible and courageous enough to take the decisions to improve the status quo, and sometimes very courageous decisions are needed," he added.

Under the theme "Responsive and Responsible Leadership", this year's meeting will unite a record 3,000 government, business and civil society leaders from 99 countries, including over 50 heads of state and government, along 1,800 business leaders from all industries.

Four main tracks will be explored by stakeholders, namely reimagining global cooperation, revitalising the global economy, reforming capitalism and preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

"Davos is a working meeting. It is part of a working process which is a year-long process," Schwab highlighted, adding that "the WEF looks at the future in a systemic way."

This entails looking at how to shape a number of system initiatives affecting the future outlook of health, production, economic growth and social inclusion, as well as energy, mobility and consumption, to name but a few.

"The world is changing around us at unprecedented speed. At this tipping point, our traditional concepts of society, meaningful employment and the nation state are challenged, and many understandably feel insecure or even threatened," Schwab said.

"A new model of responsive and responsible leadership is needed to allow us to address the challenges the world faces, from security to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with long-term, action-oriented thinking and solidarity on a national and global level," he added.

The most diverse meeting to date, one third of all participants will hail from outside of Europe and North America and one third of attendees will represent society outside of business and government.