GENEVA, May 17. /TASS/. The special annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which was to be held in August in Singapore will not take place, WEF said in a statement on its website on Monday.
"Regretfully, the tragic circumstances unfolding across geographies, an uncertain travel outlook, differing speeds of vaccination rollout and the uncertainty around new variants combine to make it impossible to realise a global meeting with business, government and civil society leaders from all over the world at the scale which was planned. This is despite the excellent support provided by the Government of Singapore," the organization said.
"It was a difficult decision, particularly in view of the great interest of our partners to come together not just virtually but in person, and to contribute to a more resilient, more inclusive and more sustainable world. But ultimately the health and safety of everyone concerned is our highest priority," said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
The meeting is now scheduled for the first half of 2022. The venue and date will be determined later this summer.
Traditionally, the annual meetings of the WEF are held in January in Davos, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated sanitary restrictions, the meeting in 2021 was planned to be held in Singapore on August 17-20.
WEF is a Swiss non-governmental organization. It meets annually with business leaders, political leaders and prominent experts in various fields of activity. About a thousand large companies and organizations are members of the WEF.