Bloomberg's New Economy Forum to be held in Singapore

The event will run from November 16-19 and be sponsored by Adnoc

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a member of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum advisory board, speaks at the 2019 event in Beijing. Bloomberg  

Bloomberg will host the fourth edition of its New Economy Forum as an in-person event in Singapore this year.

The event will run from November 16-19 and is sponsored by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Government heads, business leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world will attend and speak at the forum.

“The time since the last New Economy Forum has dramatically underlined why the event, and the themes that drive it, are so important. The pandemic has shown how interconnected we are and why cooperation is critical,” Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg and a former New York City mayor, said.

“New vaccines show the power of technology and public-private partnerships to address humanity’s challenges. And the disproportionate impacts of the virus, and uneven global access to vaccines, have shown how far we have to go to build an equitable future. The New Economy Forum is a chance for leaders to talk with one another and think big on these and other key issues," Mr Bloomberg added.

Countries around the world are racing to vaccinate their populations against Covid-19, which has infected more than 155 million and killed more than 3.2 million people around the world since the outbreak began, according to Worldometer. Globally, almost 1.2 billion vaccines have already been administered, Bloomberg's Vacccine Tracker shows.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund upgraded its forecast for global economic growth to 6 per cent this year, citing the rapid vaccine rollout and more than $16 trillion of fiscal and $9tn of monetary measures provided by governments and central banks to support economies. However, the Washington-based lender also warned of a "divergence' in economic recovery between countries due differing speed of inoculation programmes.

Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose country hosted the inaugural forum in 2018, said that health and safety "remains Singapore's top prioirity" and that it would work with Bloomberg to create a conducive environment for delegates to meet.

“As the world begins to emerge from a global pandemic, gatherings such as these are vital for re-energising the relationships and partnerships that are the lifeblood of the global economy," Dr Sultan Al Jaber, group chief executive of Adnoc and UAE Minister of State for Industry and Advanced Technology, said.

"I look forward to reconnecting with peers and to strengthening ties between markets both east and west of the United Arab Emirates on issues of critical importance for the global community, from tackling climate change to revitalising the economy."