Mr Leutwiler chose to become chairman of Brown Boveri, an ailing Swiss manufacturing company, and guided through its merger with Asea of Sweden to become Asea Brown Boveri, one of the world's leading engineering companies.

ECONOMIST: Fritz Leutwiler

ABB, the company that arose from the 1988 merger of the Swedish firm ASEA and the Swiss one Brown Boveri, is hoping to get a lot more business like that.

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas

Assets: Over 4% of ABB, parent of Swiss-Swedish Asea Brown Boveri.

FORBES: Europe

Anwar publicly acknowledged there was friction between tycoon Ting Pek Khiing's Ekran company, which is handling the project, and the main contractor, the Swiss-Swedish firm of Asea Brown Boveri.

CNN: A DAY IN THE LIFE

Still, 27 heads of state or government are expected in the Swiss mountains - including UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Q&A: World Economic Forum 2008

Rust-brown tiled rooftops, church spires and onion domes: its skyline is a credit to Swiss understatement.

BBC: Swiss movement

Even Swiss farmers outside the city centre encourage brave tourists to saddle up and ride their famous brown dairy cows on a day of cow trekking.

BBC: The stranger side of Switzerland