World Economic Forum meet scheduled for January deferred till summer 2022 over Omicron concerns

The planned World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting 2022 on Monday was deferred due to surging cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

The annual meeting was scheduled to take place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland between 17 and 21 January 2022. It is now planned for early summer in the light of continued uncertainty over the Omicron outbreak, read WEF release.

Despite the meeting's stringent health protocols, the transmissibility of Omicron and its impact on travel and mobility have made deferral necessary.

The health and safety of everyone involved in physical meetings - participants, collaborators and the host community - have always been the Forum's priority, said the release.

"The deferral of the Annual Meeting will not prevent progress through continued digital convening of leaders from business, government and civil society," said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

"Public-private cooperation has moved forward throughout the pandemic and that will continue apace. We look forward to bringing global leaders together in person soon."

Participants will instead join a headline series of State of the World sessions bringing together global leaders online to focus on shaping solutions to the world's most pressing challenges, added the release.

Current pandemic conditions make it extremely difficult to deliver a global in-person meeting. Preparations have been guided by expert advice and have benefited from the close collaboration of the Swiss government at all levels.

( With inputs from ANI )

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