World economists shun Davos

Security costs at Davos have spiralled

The World Economic Forum, the number one retreat for the globe's business and political elites, is to leave its traditional home in the Swiss mountains in 2002 and decamp to New York.

Officials from the WEF told reporters that Davos, the mountain eyrie which has become synonymous with the annual get-together - was too expensive to make secure.

Recent years have seen the Davos meeting, held each January, beset by protestors complaining about globalisation and corporate excess.

That has steadily pushed up the cost of insulating the 3,200-odd participants from the outside world.

Crisis of confidence

Last month, the state government said it was budgeting 9.9m Swiss francs ($6.9m) for 2002, up from 8.6m francs in 2001 and just 220,000 francs in 1997.

And the heightened security needed as a result of the 11 September attacks on the US was the final nail in the coffin, they said, forcing the switch of venue.

According to the New York Times, the WEF organisers have already settled on New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel for the week from 31 January to 5 February.

The theme is expected to be the global crisis of confidence caused by the attacks.