World Economic Forum cancels special annual meeting in Singapore

SINGAPORE: The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Special Annual Meeting in Singapore has been cancelled, three months before it was scheduled to take place.

The WEF announced this on Monday (May 17), citing global uncertainties caused by COVID-19.

"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," said the WEF.

"This is despite the excellent support provided by the Government of Singapore."

The next annual meeting will take place in the first half of 2022, with the final location and date to be decided based on an assessment of the situation later this summer, said the WEF.

Singapore was scheduled to host the Special Annual Meeting from Aug 17 to 20.

“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,” said Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of WEF.

“But ultimately the health and safety of everyone concerned is our highest priority.”

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