World Economic Forum cancels Aug meeting in S'pore

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is cancelling its special annual meeting that was scheduled to be held in Singapore in August, with organisers citing the uncertain travel outlook and new Covid-19 variants as reasons.

"Regretfully, the tragic circumstances unfolding across geographies, an uncertain travel outlook, differing speeds of vaccination roll-out 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," the WEF said yesterday.

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

The WEF said its next annual meeting will instead take place in the first half of next year. The final location and date will be determined based on an assessment of the situation later this summer.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said yesterday that the WEF had informed the Singapore Government that due to the continuing global uncertainties caused by Covid-19, it will be cancelling its special annual meeting for this year, which was scheduled to take place in Singapore from Aug 17 to 20.

"The Singapore Government fully appreciates the challenges caused by the ongoing global pandemic, particularly for a large meeting with a broad span of international participants," MTI said in response to media queries.

"We will continue to work actively with the World Economic Forum and other key international organisations to promote collaborations between stakeholders on issues of global concern," it added.

Professor Klaus Schwab, the WEF's founder and executive chairman, said of the cancellation: "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."

The WEF's annual meeting, traditionally held in Davos, Switzerland, in January, gathers top public and private sector leaders to address pressing global issues. This year's special meeting, which the WEF announced last December would be in Singapore, would have taken place at Marina Bay Sands, with over 1,000 delegates.

The WEF had shifted the dates for the meeting twice, from mid to end May, and again to August.

In a separate statement yesterday, a spokesman for the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) said the think-tank remains on track to convene the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) here early next month.

"The World Economic Forum's decision does not affect our plans. We have a full line-up of ministers and other senior leaders from around the world planning to attend our event," the spokesman said.

Responding to media queries, the Ministry of Defence said last night IISS has informed the Government that it remains committed to holding the security dialogue.

"We are encouraged by the positive response to invitations to SLD 2021, which underscores the strong commitment of government leaders in addressing security challenges even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic," Mindef said.

"Nevertheless, as the Covid-19 situation is fluid and continues to evolve... the Singapore Government will continue to monitor the local and global Covid-19 situation and make the necessary adjustments. In doing so, the health and safety of everyone will be the foremost consideration," it added.