A history

Throughout its history, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has constantly evolved to better address the challenges and grasp the opportunities being presented to the global community. Its antecedents originate from when it was first conceived of in January 1971 by European business leaders. Then called the European Management Forum (EMF) it had the rather narrow mandate of addressing the yawning gap between best management practices in the US and those of Europe. The German-born academic, Klaus Schwab, professor of business policy at the University of Geneva, chaired the first gathering which took place in Davos, Switzerland, and promoted the 'stakeholder' management approach which based corporate success on managers taking account of all interests: not merely shareholders, clients and customers, but employees and the communities within which they operate, including government.

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Within three years, this mandate expanded to encompass economic and social issues and political leaders were invited for the first time to Davos in January 1974. Two years later, the organisation introduced a system of membership for what it termed "the 1,000 leading companies of the world".

A number of ground-breaking proposals followed, notably when the EMF became the first non-governmental institution to initiate a partnership with China's economic development commissions. This helped to spur economic reform policies in the country.

Regional meetings around the globe were also added to the year's activities, while the publication of the Global Competitiveness Report in 1979 saw the organisation expand to also become a knowledge hub.

The EMF changed its name to the World Economic Forum in 1987 and sought to broaden its vision further to include providing a platform for resolving international conflicts. World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 'milestones' included the first joint appearance outside South Africa of former South African Presidents F W de Klerk, Nelson Mandela and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a milestone in the country's political transition.

The WEF has since expanded its activities to include a Centre for Public-Private Partnerships which engages businesses, civil society and political authorities in initiatives ranging from health initiatives to alliances combating chronic hunger. The forum's knowledge centre, the Centre for Strategic Insight, has also expanded to include several other competitive reports, the Global Gender Gap Report, Global Risk reports and regional scenario reports.