Davos organisers postpone Egypt conference over ‘security concerns’

Organisers of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which holds an annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, have postponed a similar conference planned to take place in Egypt this spring, citing security concerns, The Associated Press reported.

The WEF Middle East and North Africa conference generally alternates between Jordan and Egypt from year to year and welcomes dignitaries and high-ranking business leaders to discuss political and economic matters, similar to the Davos conference.

Spokesman Adrian Monck says the 2016 edition planned for May in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, was postponed but not cancelled following the November bombing of a Russian passenger plane that had taken off from that Red Sea resort.

He confirmed the decision, which emerged publicly in a report last week in the United Arab Emirates newspaper The National, was taken last year.

Writing in a column for The National, Frank Kane described the move as “regrettable,” adding that “to abandon it because of an isolated act of terrorism…send[s] out all the wrong signals to the region, and to its enemies.”

Meanwhile, one Egyptian government spokesperson questioned why no world events were cancelled in Paris and Istanbul following terror attacks. In Istanbul, world leaders met for the G-20 Summit despite the occurrence of a terror attack days before the meeting, while in Paris the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) went ahead just over a month after the deadly Paris attacks.

Separately, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said the decision to cancel the forum was “flimsy” and said that it was wrong to assume Egypt is incapable of maintaining its internal security.

“The forum is not in a position to make that sort of assessment,” said Sameh Shoukry in an exclusive interview to Foreign Policy.

The WEF on MENA has previously been held in both Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh and in Jordan’s Dead Sea.

Less than a year after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced that Egypt has been asked to once again host the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East and North Africa, the WEF founder and executive chairman said that the forum has been cancelled.

Source: The Associated Press