World Economic Forum series of research reports and engages its members in sector-specific initiatives. There have been many other international conferences nicknamed with "Davos". However, the World Economic Forum objected the use of "Davos" in such contexts for any event not organised by them. This particular statement was issued on 22 October 2018, a day before the opening of 2018 Future Investment Initiative (nicknamed "Davos in the desert") organised by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The WEF was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, a German-born business professor at the University of Geneva. First named the "European Management Forum", it changed
St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Prior to this, the Forum was held at the Tauride Palace, the headquarters of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Foundation was established in March 2007 to deal with the organizational and technical aspects of running the forum. Anton Troyanov was appointed Director of the Foundation. The first Forum in the updated format was held in 2007, organized by the SPIEF Foundation under the leadership of the Organizing Committee. The same year a partnership between the World Economic Forum (WEF) and SPIEF was announced. On January 25, 2007, St. Petersburg International