While the number of corona cases in Singapore is currently increasing again, the World Economic Forum (WEF) canceled its special annual meeting planned for August 17th in the Southeast Asian city-state on Monday.
The reason given by the forum was the stricter travel rules that made it difficult to organize such a conference in these times.
"It was a difficult decision, especially in view of the great interest of our partners to come together in person and not just virtually and to contribute to a more resilient world that integrates more people and is more sustainable," said the founder of the WEF, Klaus Schwab.
Christoph Hein
Business correspondent for South Asia / Pacific based in Singapore.
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He himself had been to Singapore several times for preparation. The forum is now planning to hold its annual meeting in the "first half of 2022", they say. The place and the exact time would still be determined. Singapore has already severely restricted the number of participants for the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference at the beginning of next month. The planned trip by Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to represent the European Indo-Pacific strategy on site is also in danger - she has already canceled her visit to Tokyo, Guam and Washington.
First, after the move from Davos, the WEF wanted to meet in Singapore from May 13th, and then from May 24th. According to reports, the plan was to cordon off the world-famous Marina Bay Sands with its rooftop pool and numerous conference rooms for the WEF, thus creating a safe bubble. More than a thousand participants were expected - but that was only about a third of the number of participants from last year.
The cancellation is another low blow for the rich tropical island, although the city seemed to have the pandemic under control after a first wave that raged in the homes for guest workers. In April, the news service Bloomberg chose Singapore as the best place in the world to weather the pandemic. At that time there were almost no more cases. In view of the flare-up, the government has now imposed a new four-week quarantine.