It was a moment of unspoken national pride when the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced its decision to relocate its annual meeting to Singapore, whose’s COVID-19 situation had been deemed much safer than Europe’s.
Oh, look how well we are managing the pandemic! We’ve even attracted the premier meeting of the world’s big shots, which doesn’t leave Switzerland… like ever!
Well, oops.
World Economic Forum Cancelled
On Monday (17 May), the WEF announced the cancellation of its special annual meeting planned for August in Singapore, attributing the decision to uncertainties in the COVID-19 situation globally.
If it had proceeded, it would have been the first time the WEF was held in Asia.
According to a statement by the WEF, “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.”
Speaking to The Straits Times, WEF founder Professor Klaus Schwab characterised the cancellation as “a difficult decision”, seeing it a “great interest of our partners to come together… to contribute to a more resilient, more inclusive and more sustainable world”.
(This sounds like me trying to hit the all key words in my exam.)
Though the announcement coincided with the beginning of a new circuit break—oops, I mean Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), the WEF did not cite local circumstances as a reason for its cancellation.
The organisers acknowledged the “excellent support provided by the Government of Singapore”, which courteously replied that it “fully appreciates the challenges caused by the ongoing global pandemic, particularly for a large meeting with a broad span of international participants.”
The meeting, which has left Davos, Switzerland only once before since it began in 1971, is a gathering of the world’s top political, business, and civil society leaders to discuss global issues of concern. This year’s iteration had an expected attendance of more than 1,000 delegates before its cancellation.
The tourist dollars… gone.
Shangri-La Dialogue Still Goes On
A separate statement from the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), a think tank that sounds irrelevant (and probably is) from our lives, said its Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in early June will still take place.
The dialogue is scheduled for 4 to 5 June, and will involve high-level defence policymakers around the world to discuss and collaborate on key defence and security issues, or other topics no one really has an interest in.
The SLD will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel (duh), in an event “bubble” that will allow in-person meetings and discussions.
Wonder if the meetings will have a maximum size of two people.
Speaking with reference to the WEF cancellation, a spokesperson for the IISS clarified its resolve to “work with our partners in Singapore’s government to strengthen the already stringent safety measures we have in place, and make any necessary adjustments to protect both our attendees and the local community.”
The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has also voiced its commitment to supporting the SLD, though it added that “the health and safety of everyone will be the foremost consideration.”
Feature Image: Shutterstock.com (Drop of Light / Hopix Art)
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