DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 26 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac canceled his trip to the World Economic Forum because of uncertain weather conditions and will deliver his address by video-conference, organisers said Wednesday.
"Owing to weather conditions, Swiss authorities have informed us that transporting the president from Zurich to Davos is not possible," a statement by Chirac`s office said.
"Since he must be at Auschwitz (early Thursday for a commemoration of the Polish concentration camp`s liberation) the president could not go to Davos and will speak by video-conference,"
A forum spokesman said unstable weather conditions had made helicopter flights difficult.
Chirac was to have ferried from Zurich to this snowy ski resort, where heads of state and government annually join business and social leaders to thrash out ways of dealing with global problems.
His address was to outline proposals on financing sustainable development, forum officials said.
Chirac backs the idea of an international tax to boost growth in developing countries, with possible tax targets including carbon dioxide emissions, financial transactions, shipping, plane tickets or credit card purchases.
The levy would aim to raise 50 billion dollars per year to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 in line with the UN`s Millennium Development Goals.
01/26/2005 13:47 GMT - AFP