(WXYZ) — After more than five decades of being hosted in Switzerland, the World Economic Forum could be looking for a new home in the future, and Detroit is potentially one of the spots.
Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO at BlackRock, who is also the interim co-chair of the World Economic Forum, spoke at the opening sequence of the meeting earlier this week.
"For 56 years, the World Economic Forum has been synonymous with Davos. And that’s likely to remain true for a while," Fink said. "But you should also see WEF start doing something new: showing up—and listening—in the places where the modern world is actually built. Davos, yes. But also places like Detroit and Dublin—and cities like Jakarta and Buenos Aires."
The annual meeting of the WEF brings in some of the biggest companies and leaders in the world. According to Fink's speech, this year's WEF had nearly 1,000 CEOs and board chairs, as well as 65 heads of state and government, representing 40% of the world's population.
"We’re here for something bigger than ourselves and the organizations we represent. We believe economic progress should be shared. We believe prosperity should reach further than it has. And we believe institutions like WEF still matter in making that happen," Fink said.
A global event like the WEF would be a massive event for the City of Detroit. In March 1994, Detroit hosted a G-7 Jobs Conference with the U.S., Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.
According to a document from the Clinton Presidential Library, the conference took place March 14-15 at several locations in Detroit, including The Westin Hotel, then-COBO Hall and the Fox Theatre.
In the document from the library, one of the talking points described why it was important that the conference was held in Detroit.
"It is significant that the conference is being held in Detroit, in the heart of the industrial Midwest. The Midwest suffered many of the maladies now experienced by other industrial nations, and has learned how to produce better for the emerging export market. The region is coming back by reviving its manufacturing base. The American auto industry -- long buffeted by trade -- is thriving, putting employees back to work and making top quality cars in state-of-the-art factories," the document reads.
