Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrives in Zurich, Switzerland Wednesday, January 25, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Prime Minister Stephen Harper kicks off two days of economic brainstorming today by meeting Canadian business leaders in this snowy Alpine town.

Harper will talk with Jim Leech of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Charles Sirois, who is chairman of CIBC and CEO of Telesystem, and the CEOs of Desjardins Group and Barrick Gold.

The goal is for Harper to learn what they're hearing on the ground at the World Economic Forum, where more than 2,600 business and government leaders and thinkers are hashing out solutions for the global economy.

Harper and investors alike are nervous that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is not only driving the continent into recession, but also undermining the world economy as a whole and weakening the global banking system.

Harper has spoken in the past of the need for corporations that are sitting on stagnant pools of capital to step up and actively invest, in order to create jobs and growth.

But for many companies, taking that investment risk makes little sense right now, leaving both corporations and government searching for ways to work together to make that stagnant capital more productive.

Harper will also meet the prime minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who holds the presidency of the European Union this year.

Harper has not minced words about the need for the EU to act quickly to stem the debt and banking crisis and he will no doubt repeat his message in this bilateral meeting.

Canada is at risk if Europe does not make good on its intentions to buoy up its banks and put in place a substantial rescue package, officials say.

Harper will also be courting emerging markets, pushing Canada as a trade and investment destination, especially now that the United States has nixed the Keystone XL pipeline project, at least for now.

On Thursday, Harper will deliver a speech that will likely urge Europe to act quickly to resolve the sovereign debt crisis. He will also seek to frame the upcoming federal budget, which is expected to contain details about spending cuts.