World Economic Forum to reschedule annual meeting 2021 to early next summer

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday said it has decided to reschedule its next annual meeting to early summer of 2021 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Traditionally, the WEF holds its annual summit in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos in January.

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.

In a statement, the Geneva-based organisation said it has decided to reschedule the Annual Meeting 2021 to early next summer.

"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 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, the WEF will digitally convene high-level 'Davos Dialogues' where key global leaders will share their views on the state of the world in 2021.

The WEF said it continues to engage its partners and constituents in manifold, collaborative activities to address global, regional and business challenges.

It further said since February this year, almost 1,800 organisations from business, government and civil society have joined the WEF's 'Covid Action Platform' following the outbreak of the pandemic.

In September, the WEF's Sustainable Development Impact Summit will 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.