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 totaling 500 billion roubles. The Forum was held on June 17–19, 1998 under the auspices of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of CIS Member States and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The Forum, held as an annual event for the first time, was attended by some 2,600 people, including leaders of CIS member-states, and representatives of 36 major international organizations, including the Council of Europe, the United Nations, and UNESCO. In addition, the Forum was attended by prominent Russian scholars, as well as heads of Russian and international private financial institutions. During the Forum, 700 investment