World Economic Forum's Special Annual Meeting in Singapore rescheduled to August (file photo)
The World Economic Forum's Special Annual Meeting in Singapore in May has been rescheduled to August 17-20 this year due to the challenges in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation has said. The Special Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) was earlier scheduled to be held in Singapore from May 25 to 28.
"Although the World Economic Forum and Government of Singapore remain confident of the measures in place to ensure a safe and effective meeting, and local transmission of COVID-19 in Singapore remains at negligible levels, the change to the meeting's timing reflects the international challenges in containing the pandemic," the Geneva-based organisation said in a statement on Wednesday.
It said that the current global travel restrictions have made planning difficult for an in-person meeting in the first half of the year. "Furthermore, differing quarantine and air transport regulations have increased the lead time necessary to ensure that participants globally can make arrangements to join," the organisation said.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said that the Singapore government "understands the challenges" faced by the WEF and has agreed to reschedule the meeting. "We will continue to partner the World Economic Forum closely to host a safe and successful Special Annual Meeting in Singapore," the Channel News Asia reported, citing MTI.
The Special Annual Meeting in Singapore in August will be the first global leadership summit to address the challenges of recovering from the pandemic, said the WEF. The meeting is usually held in Davos, Switzerland. "A global leadership summit needs the participation of all stakeholders. The Special Annual Meeting in Singapore in August will provide the place for leaders from business, government and civil society to come together to address the steps for global recovery," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF.