What is the World Economic Forum?

The World Economic Forum is an organization that conducts yearly meetings for discussing serious issues involving political, social, economical, and environmental areas associated with the world. Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

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What does the World Economic Forum Do? 

The World Economic Forum includes members from the public and private sector, and further involve reputed CEOs, famous personalities, government officers, spiritual leaders, union representatives throughout the world. The WEF was established in 1971 with a mission revolving around the stakeholder theory. This theory states that even if it is the primary objective of the private sector to maximize its shareholders wealth, it is important for the firm to involve the remaining society in owning a stake or for participating in the company's operations. Stakeholders including customers, creditors, domestic and international community, and employees should receive the privilege to take companys decisions.

Funding of the World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum funds itself from its own members that include pioneers in the industry having companies with an annual turnover of at least $5 billion and several celebrities, journalists, and other individuals who can pay expenses for attending meetings followed by annual dues. While regional meetings are organized in developing countries like Africa, Latin America, etc, the big yearly meeting takes place in Davos, Switzerland. World Economic Forum tends to bring in and discuss trending issues with its member nations and the general public. Further, they enable the evolution of agendas for public and corporate sector in order to take effective decisions in future. It conducts research into fields that are of huge importance for its members, and also motivates the amalgam of public and private sector, and efficacious communication among its member countries.

Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum

Every year, the World Economic Forum holds its official meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The meeting consists of around 2500 individuals belonging to different nations. The world press records every minute of this meeting. Davos meetings held in the past have made government leaders discuss political tensions with different countries, thereby increasing the status of the annual meeting to political and economic forum. Klaus Schwab (a professor of Business at the University of Geneva), the founder of WEF had a vision to aid countries in matters related to international tensions or conflicts followed by the encouragement of superior practices in global business management. Schwab works as the Executive Chairman for the WEF. Besides its headquarters in Geneva, the organization operates in New York, Tokyo, and Beijing. In 2017, it also opened another office in San Francisco. The title of the most recent meeting held in Jan 2018 was Creating a Shared Future in a Fractioned World.

Related Topics

• WTO
• General Agreement on Free Tariff and Trade (GATT)
• International Monetary Fund
• World Economic Forum
• Inter-American Development Bank
• Davos World Economic Forum 
• Chamber of Commerce
• Jackson Hole Economic Symposium