A boost for New York or a poisoned chalice? The announcement yesterday that the World Economic Forum is moving from Davos to New York at very short notice has presented the city with a mixed blessing. The forum will bring 2,500 of the leading world business, political and academic leaders to Manhattan, but it will also attract the anti-globalisation demonstrators who dogged the gathering in the picturesque Swiss resort in recent years.
The announcement in New York yesterday was welcomed by Major Rudolph Giuliani. The World Economic Forum will now take place in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York from January 31st to February 5th, the same dates as originally scheduled for the Alpine resort. Swiss Economy Minister Pascal Couchepin had said last month his country was determined to stage the forum as usual, despite the increased security fears after September 11th and soaring costs brought on by riots at recent gatherings.
But two factors were likely to have combined to change the mind of the organisers. The stars of the annual forum include dozens of American chief executives, politicians and academics, and many are reluctant to make international flights while the US is at war. The organisers are also gambling that protests would be more muted in New York. The anti-globalisation movement in the US retreated into a "reflective" mode after September 11th, which created a patriotic atmosphere less tolerant of street protests.
The venue change was presented as a demonstration of solidarity with New York City following the attacks, though Salzburg in Austria and Whistler in Canada were also considered, making it more a case of loss of nerve in Switzerland. The cost of security had become a big issue as demonstrators descended on Davos in the last few years to protest that the cosy get-together enhanced collaboration between big business and big government at the expense of the world's poor.
The bill for security soared to $5.4 million (€6 million) for the 2001 forum meeting in Davos, during which protesters rampaged through the nearby town of Landquart and Zurich, Switzerland's financial capital.
The cost was estimated to rise to $6.9 million for the January session. In 1997 - the last year before the protests started - the cost was $137,500. Mr Giovanni Schumacher, a spokesman for the Libertarian Coordination protest group, said he expected a strong Swiss contingent to travel to New York for the protest. The move was a victory for the demonstrators, he said. "The decision shows that resistance can have positive results."
Mr Klaus Schwab, president of the foundation that organises the forum, said the event would return to Davos in 2003. "Davos has been home to the annual meeting for 31 years and the intimacy of the mountain setting has been conducive to solving a number of world crises in the past," he said.
The forum's handling in New York will provide an early test for new mayor, Mr Michael Bloomberg.
And while bringing business, it raises the prospect of confrontation on the streets around the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue, and at the very least six days of traffic gridlock as big names and protesters converge on Manhattan.
