World Economic Forum /

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland. The meeting brings together top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world, including health and the environment. Beside meetings, the foundation produces a series of research reports and engages its members in sector specific initiatives. It also organizes the "Annual Meeting of the New Champions" in China and a series of regional meetings throughout the year. In 2008, those regional meetings included meetings on Europe and Central Asia, East Asia, the Russia CEO Roundtable, Africa, the Middle East, and the World Economic Forum on Latin America. In 2008, the foundation also launched the "Summit on the Global Agenda" in Dubai. The 2011 annual meeting in Davos has been held from 26 January to 30 January. The foundation was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a German-born business professor at the University of Geneva.