WEF postpones 2021 Davos meet over pandemic

In this file photograph taken on January 21, 2019, a participant at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting is seen in silhouette at the Congress Centre in Davos, eastern Switzerland. (AFP)

The World Economic Forum said on Wednesday that it would postpone the next Davos summit by several months because it would be unsafe to hold it early next year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The World Economic Forum decided this afternoon to reschedule the annual meeting 2021 in Davos to early next summer," a spokesman said in a statement, adding that the decision had been reached after experts advised the meeting could not be held "safely" in January.