World Economic Forum to stay in Davos

WEF organisers have denied they plan to pack up and set up the annual summit elsewhere Keystone Archive

Organisers of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual summit in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos have denied that next year's meeting will be held outside Switzerland.

In a statement issued following reports in the Swiss press, the WEF said that there was “no doubt that the meeting will be held at the resort”, but confirmed that other cities had put forward applications to host the meeting.

“It is true that as an internationally recognised organisation, the WEF regularly receives offers from other cities to host the meeting,” the statement added.

There had been speculation in Swiss newspapers that organisers might choose to move the gathering, attended annually by some 3000 business leaders and politicians, to another country.

The move was thought to have been under discussion following anti-globalisation riots in neighbouring Italy during last month’s G8 summit meeting of leading industrialised nations and Russia.

“The chaotic scenes witnessed in Genoa should not leave anybody in a complacent mood,” the WEF said.

The WEF has itself been a target for anti-globalisation protesters. During the last meeting in Davos in February, Swiss police mounted an unprecedented security operation to keep demonstrators away from the summit venue.

Organisers have pointed out that Davos has a long history of association with the WEF, having hosted the meeting for the past 31 years.

But WEF officials have refused to rule out a possible change of venue in the future.

“When it comes to the matter of moving the location of the annual meeting,” organisers said in a communiqué released on Thursday, “the decision will be taken in consultation with all parties concerned, but it is not on the table for the moment.”

swissinfo with agencies