WEF to move 2021 annual meeting out of Davos, but still in Switzerland

Updated : September 22, 2020 11:05 PM IST

The World Economic Forum (WEF), which has decided to reschedule its next annual meeting to early summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will move the high-profile event out of the ski resort town of Davos for the year to another place within Switzerland due to logistical reasons.

While a new venue is yet to be decided, WEF's Managing Director (Public Engagement) Adrian Monck said it will take place within Switzerland itself.

"As we said in August, the Annual Meeting 2021 is rescheduled to early summer. It will be happening in Switzerland in 2021...But not in Davos," he tweeted. The tweet followed Swiss media reports about a likelihood of the event being moved out of Davos due to logistical issues.

Traditionally, the WEF holds its annual summit in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos in January and the high-profile event is attended by thousands of global leaders from fields of business, governance, politics, art and culture, civil society and academia, among others. On August 26, the Geneva-based organisation had said it has decided to reschedule its next annual meeting to early summer of 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

"Details concerning the dates and location of the rescheduled Annual Meeting 2021 will be shared as soon as the Forum is assured that all conditions are fulfilled to guarantee the health and safety of our participants and the hosting community," it had said. "The decision was not taken easily, since the need for global leaders to come together to design a common recovery path and shape the 'Great Reset' in the post-COVID-19 era is so urgent. However, the advice from experts is that the Forum cannot do so safely in January," it added.

During the week of January 25, 2021, when the annual meeting was originally scheduled to take place, the WEF will digitally convene high-level 'Davos Dialogues' where key global leaders will share their views on the state of the world in the year. Besides, the WEF is also hosting a four-day Sustainable Development Impact Summit, which began on Monday and aims to bring the core principles of the Great Reset into focus, asking how everyone can contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive future.

Earlier in June, the WEF had said it will adopt a new twin-summit format for its next annual Davos meeting by bringing together leaders from across the globe for in-person as well as virtual dialogues with a theme of the 'Great Reset'. While the digital dialogues will take place as planned in January 2021, the famed annual meeting has now been postponed till early summer.

The 50th WEF Annual Meeting, which was held from January 21-24, 2020, was one of the last high-profile gatherings this year before the coronavirus pandemic brought almost the entire world to a halt.

Published : September 22, 2020 11:05 PM IST

WEF to move 2021 annual meeting out of Davos, but still in Switzerland

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