WEF reschedules Annual Meeting 2022 for May 22-26 in Davos

The World Economic Forum announced on Friday that it will hold its Annual Meeting 2022 in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos from May 22-26 as the first global in-person leadership event since the start of the pandemic.

The announcement came on the last day of the WEF's online Davos Agenda summit, which began on January 17 -- the day when the 2022 annual meeting was originally scheduled to start but had to be deferred due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The theme of the WEF Annual Meeting 2022 will be 'Working Together, Restoring Trust', said the Geneva-based organisation.

The annual summit will return to Davos-Klosters after a two-year hiatus as the event could not be held in 2021 as well due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation and has been holding its annual meeting in Davos for over 50 years, said the next Davos summit will offer world leaders an opportunity to take stock of the state of the world and shape partnerships and policies for the crucial period ahead.

Topics on the agenda will include the pandemic recovery, tackling climate change, building a better future for work, accelerating stakeholder capitalism, and harnessing the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, said, ''After all the virtual meetings taking place in the last two years, leaders from politics, business and civil society have to convene finally in person again. We need to establish the atmosphere of trust that is truly needed to accelerate collaborative action and to address the multiple challenges we face.'' Among others, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have addressed the virtual summit this year.

The WEF said it will continue to communicate closely with the Swiss government on the public health situation in Switzerland.

The annual meeting will take place as long as all necessary conditions are in place to guarantee the health and safety of its participants and the host community.

During the Davos Agenda 2022, heads of state and government and international organisations shared their priorities for a challenging year ahead. They joined leaders from business and civil society and spoke on the global economic outlook, inequality, healthy futures, climate and resilience.

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