WEF sets up San Francisco office to catch tech wave

San Francisco

THE World Economic Forum (WEF), the host of the annual gathering of political and economic leaders in Davos, Switzerland, is planting a flag in San Francisco as the area's technology industry grows in prominence on the global stage.

The Geneva-based organisation has chosen the tech epicentre for its second US office, positioning itself near Silicon Valley heavyweights, said Murat Sonmez, who will run the new space. The nonprofit forum - whose only other satellite offices are in New York, Beijing and Tokyo - is set to announce the new location on Monday at a conference in San Francisco.

"Technology is having an unprecedented impact on the global economy - not just on the business side but on how people live and who we are - and it's happening very, very fast," said Mr Sonmez, a member of the forum's managing board. "We wanted t…