Historical Background When it began in 1971 in Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum (WEF) focused on European economic issues, but, over the years, the agenda has expanded to include wider global concerns. Professor Klaus Schwab, founder of the WEF and who still runs the event, calls it "a platform for collaborative thinking and searching for solutions, not for making decisions". The declared objective of the WEF is "to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation," through collaborating with corporate, political, academic and other influential groups and sectors "to shape global, regional and industry agendas" and to "define challenges, solutions and actions." Davos Membership The WEF is funded by its 1,000 member companies, typically global enterprises with more than five billion dollars in turnover (varying by industry and region). To be eligible to buy a ticket to Davos, one has to pay required fees, estimated by the New York Times journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin as $71,000 , excluding hotel and travel costs. The forum's membership is stratified by the level of engagement with forum activities, with the level of membership fees increasing as participation in meetings, projects, and initiatives rises. Participants The World Economic Forum (WEF) has evolved into a huge event bringing together- on an annual basis- thousands of participants from 140 countries including the world's top entrepreneurs, bankers and financiers with heads of state, finance and trade ministers, central bankers and policymakers from dozens of the world's largest economies. As well, a large number of international economic organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organization, UN, OECD and others, as well as hundreds of academics, economists, political scientists, journalists, cultural elites are keen to attend the events of Davos. Among the most distinguished attendees, however, come the 1,500 bosses of many of the world's top companies - not just from the West, but from emerging economies as well. Regional Forums The once-a-year event has evolved into a year-round succession of regional forums in all parts of the globe, plus a bevy of working groups bringing together key decision makers on global issues such as cyber security, global risk, and fighting corruption and poverty. In May 2015, the WEF held its eighth edition on the Middle East and North Africa at the Dead Sea, Jordan with more than 800 leading entrepreneurs and politicians representing around 50 countries in attendance. This year's edition came under the title of "New regional frame work to achieve cooperation between public and private sectors". During his speech at the 2015 edition, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt invited the participants to gather in May, 2016 in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, a move warmly welcomed by Schwab. Wide Opposition to Davos Although the forum boasts delegates from 140 countries attend its activities, the largest number is from Western Europe, followed by the United States. The smallest number of delegates comes from Latin America and Africa. This reality raises skepticism on the forum's contribution to the poor all over the world. While the organizers of the WEF have reached a consensus that the poor across the globe are getting richer, arguing that new ideas, new connections, a better awareness of the world around them, and fresh ideas on how to tackle global problems are sufficient to reach the declared aims of the forum, various critics raised doubts concerning the forum's purpose, calling it a less than talk shop of a group of capitalists having fun in the Swiss mountains and enjoying their fondue. Anti-poverty campaigners renounce the powerful elites' claims, asserting the number of people living in poverty in sub-Saharan Africa – on less than $2 a day – has doubled to 562 million since 1981.
