WEF postpones Davos, the annual gathering of global elite, due to Omicron

T

he annual Davos Economic Forum, which sees business and political leaders from around the world convene in the Swiss town each January, has been postponed.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) said the event is being deferred to sometime in early summer 2022 “in light of continued uncertainty over the Omicron outbreak”.

The high-profile conference had been set to run in Davos-Klosters between January 17th and 21st, but “current pandemic conditions” had made it “extremely difficult to deliver a global in-person meeting”, the WEF said in a statement.

It stated: “Despite the meeting’s stringent health protocols, the transmissibility of Omicron and its impact on travel and mobility have made deferral necessary.”

It coms as countries implement further curbs due to the outbreak of the highly-transmissable variant.

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Chloe Street shops the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford in Kent

The Netherlands implemented a lockdown over the weekend, and today Israel got set to ban travel to the US and Canada.

Global executives will be invited to a series of “State of the World” online sessions in January, “to focus on shaping solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges”.

WEF executive chairman, Professor Klaus Schwab, said the postponement “will not prevent progress” due to the ability to hold the meetings online next month.

He added: “Public-private cooperation has moved forward throughout the pandemic and that will continue apace.”