Attendance at the Davos meeting is by invitation-only, and while both the head of state and the head of government have been sent invites, they will not be going.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Liisa Toots told ERR that: "Participation in the Davos WEF event is by invitation only, and this invitation has been received by both the President and Prime Minister of Estonia. This invitation is personal and non-transferable."

Mariann Sudakov, head of communications at the President's Office, said that prior work commitments mean President Karis, who was in Davos for last year's meeting (pictured), will not be able to attend.

Government media advisor Sten Otsmaa said Prime Minister Kallas will also not be participating in Davos, as her schedule does not permit it.

Then prime minister Jüri Ratas (Center) took part in the forum in 2020, and former president Kersti Kaljulaid has also attended.

2021's Davos meeting was canceled due to the Covid pandemic.

While last year's meeting took place in May, this year, the event has moved back to its traditional month of January, and started yesterday, Friday, running to Friday, January 20.

The WEF was founded in 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab and is an international, non-governmental lobbying organization, with the alpine setting of Davos being its flagship annual get-together.

Chiefs of around a thousand private sector firms, academics, leaders of NGOs and even religious leaders regularly take part in Davos, in addition to selected politicians.

The organization has reportedly been the subject of various "conspiracy theories."

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