The World Economic Forum (WEF) will convene its 2021 Special Annual Meeting in Singapore from May 13 to 16; and return to Davos-Klosters, in Switzerland, for the 2022 edition.

The change in location reflects the forum’s priority of safeguarding the health and safety of participants and the host community. After careful consideration and, in light of the current situation with regard to Covid-19 cases, it was decided that Singapore was best placed to hold the meeting.

The in-person Special Annual Meeting 2021 in Singapore will be the first global leadership event to address worldwide recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and is scheduled to bring together leaders to focus on shaping solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, according to the WEF.

WEF founder and executive chairperson Klaus Schwab says a global leadership summit is of crucial importance to address how the world can recover, together.

“The Special Annual Meeting 2021 will be a place for leaders from business, government and civil society to meet in-person for the first time since the start of the global pandemic. Public-private cooperation is needed more than ever to rebuild trust and address the fault lines that emerged in 2020.”

During the usual Davos week, which in 2021 runs from January 25 to 29, the WEF will host a virtual event to rebuild trust and shape the principles, policies and partnerships needed for 2021. 

The Davos Agenda will feature participation from heads of State and government, CEOs, civil society leaders, global media and youth leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.

“Building a better future for work, accelerating stakeholder capitalism and harnessing the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be important topics on the agenda,” states the WEF.
 
Ahead of the Special Annual Meeting 2021, the WEF will host the Global Technology Governance Summit, in Tokyo, from April 6 to 7, 2021, and will feature global stakeholders from government, business and civil society dedicated to ensuring the responsible design and deployment of emerging technologies through public-private collaboration.