WEF to move May 2021 meeting to Singapore

Zurich

THE World Economic Forum (WEF) will be held in Singapore instead of Switzerland next year as the Covid-19 pandemic would make it difficult to ensure the health and safety of participants in Europe, WEF president Borge Brende said in an e-mail on Monday.

"The managing board took a very important decision today to move the Special Annual Meeting 2021 to Singapore (May 13-16)," he said in the e-mail.

"We had foreseen to organise our Annual Meeting 2021 in Lucerne-Burgenstock this spring. Unfortunately, the current Covid-19 situation in Europe makes it unlikely that we would be able to have the necessary conditions to ensure the health and safety of our staff, participants and the broader community."

"Singapore has been successful in dealing with the pandemic," he added.

Moving the meeting to the Southeast Asian financial hub of Singapore, known as the Switzerland of Asia, allows it to hold an in-person meeting, the "first global leadership event to address worldwide recovery from the pandemic", WEF organisers said.

Singapore, which in 2018 played host to a historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said its planned virus safety measures for the event could include on-arrival tests, pre-event and periodic antigen testing, as well as contact tracing of attendees.

"Despite the ongoing pandemic, we are confident that Singapore will be able to continue maintaining public health and safety while supporting the WEF's mission to effect positive change through collaboration and engagement," Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said in a statement. REUTERS