Editorial | Region should make most of World Economic Forum move
- Decision to stage next year’s summit in Singapore is not only a coup for the city state but also Asia, which must show how important it is to global recovery
Chosen for its track record in handling the Covid-19 pandemic amid Europe’s dismal performance, the new location aims to ensure thousands of global movers and shakers have a safe haven in which to give speeches, strike deals and get to better know one another.
But the decision also focuses global attention on a region that, having been the first to experience the disease, will in many instances also lead the global economic recovery. In a sea of international negatives, that is reason for the organisers of the conference and other major events to look on East Asia as being more often a host than merely a participant.
Only once before has the forum moved from Davos since its inception in 1971; New York was chosen in 2002 in a show of support a year after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Covid-19 has been devastating for global health and economic activity and Singapore represents a rare bubble of safety.
The hot topic of discussion this time is obvious, with business and political elites eager to formulate strategies to move forward, particularly now that hope of a recovery has been raised with promising outcomes for a number of vaccines.