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reThe World Economic Forum (WEF) takes place for 50 years. During this time, the global elites of business and politics did not meet in the Swiss mountain city of Davos just once: in 2002, as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and due to concerns about counter-demonstrations, the event moved to New York.
But now the WEF could flee Switzerland once again. Due to the corona pandemic, WEF founder Klaus Schwab had postponed the next appointment of the heads of administration and government for four months, which always takes place in the second half of January.
The conference was to take place with a small number of participants and with virtual components from May 17 to 21 at the Bürgenstock near Lucerne. On this ridge above Lake Lucerne is a new set of luxury hotels that can be easily sealed.
Classified as a risk zone
But now this event is on the brink: Switzerland is basically established as the place of execution, but only “as long as the Corona situation allows,” Schwab told the “Switzerland” newspaper at the weekend. Unfortunately, the situation in this regard is currently difficult, he added.
In fact, the relative number of infections and deaths in the Swiss Confederation is significantly higher than in many other European countries. From the perspective of the German federal government, Switzerland is a risk area. Anyone who enters from there must go into quarantine in Germany.
With the high number of cases, Switzerland pays the price for the casual handling of the pandemic in the summer, when the cantons outperform each other with relaxation exercises and at the same time failed to significantly expand testing capabilities.
Entrepreneurs under pressure to act
As spaces in some intensive care units have shrunk, several cantonal governments have now tightened the reins, recently leading to a decline in the number of new infections. But in the absence of strict national measures (restaurants, for example, can stay open), there is a certain risk of setbacks due to the small size of Switzerland and the high mobility of its citizens.
Virologists are also skeptical about the government’s plans to keep ski resorts open during Christmas and New Year’s Eve for financial reasons. The situation of the virus in Switzerland, of course, has not gone unnoticed by the “strategic partners” of the WEF, who spend a large amount of money for their participation in the meeting.
Anyone who, as an entrepreneur or CEO, sends their own employees to headquarters as a precautionary measure, cannot afford to make headlines as a participant in a potential high-profile event. Schwab is concerned about that, too: a superpreader incident could have consequences for the WEF, from which the organization would no longer recover, he said. It depends on the subsequent course of the pandemic whether the forum can be held in Switzerland: “We are constantly monitoring the situation and will make a final decision as soon as possible.”
In fact, at the moment everything speaks in favor of moving the conference to another country in 2021. According to the FAZ, the WEF is already intensively looking for a suitable replacement location.
The focus is on Asia, where the crown situation is now much more relaxed compared to Europe and America. Singapore is likely to be one of the shortlisted candidates. The city-state is easily accessible from all over the world and, thanks to authoritarian leadership, can be successfully “locked in”. Due to the necessary planning advance, the location decision must be made before Christmas.
Around 3000 guests recently arrived at the WEF in Davos. Schwab is planning a maximum of 1,200 participants for next year’s round.
