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- Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum Davos Forum Shifts to New York
GuardianThe annual gathering of the world's business and government elite in Davos, Switzerland, will be moved to New York next year due to security concerns.
Swiss officials in the capital, Bern, said organisers of the annual World Economic Forum told the Swiss government of the decision yesterday.
Charles McLean, spokesman for the foundation that has staged the event for three decades, declined to confirm reports in US and Swiss newspapers, but said an announcement on the location would be made tomorrow.
"Of course, we've been looking at alternatives," Mr McLean said. Heightened concern about security costs following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington has fuelled opposition to holding the event in the small Swiss ski resort this winter.
There is concern that Swiss authorities would not be able to guarantee the safety of the world's movers and shakers in the small alpine ski resort. Residents have also grumbled at the spiralling security costs and the inconvenience caused by visiting dignitaries and media.
The cost of protecting the 2,000 visitors who descend on Davos has soared to 7.8m Swiss francs (£3.2m) this year from a few hundred thousand francs just a few years ago and incidents of violence involving anti-globalisation demonstrators have made residents reluctant to host the jamboree.
According to the New York Times, the forum is to be held in the Walfdorf-Astoria hotel from January 31 to February 5, the same time it had been planned for Davos. The move is also seen as a morale-boosting move for New York as it recovers from the September attacks.
Past participants of the Davos forum have included business leaders such as Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and political figures such as the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, and the US president, Bill Clinton.
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