28 April 2021. The 50th St.Gallen Symposium will be run without participants’ physical presence in St.Gallen. However, the campus of the University of St.Gallen (HSG) will still be the central broadcasting location of the Symposium. Selected speakers will conduct discussions and chair in-depth sessions in several studios. Participants will be able to connect up virtually in the newly set-up tool, take part in the discussions and look forward to a new kind of experience. Physical events will be possible in other global locations. Subject to health and safety measures and general statutory conditions, smaller or virtual events will be conducted in Singapore and in various Swiss embassies. The worldwide event will be linked with St.Gallen through streams to ensure that the dialogue will be carried into the whole world in a hybrid fashion.

50th St.Gallen Symposium – global, sustainable and hybrid
The topic of this year’s conference is “Trust Matters”. Trust is a crucial issue which never loses it topical nature. As recent surveys reveal, trust in political and economic institutions, in new technologies, in science and also in the media is decreasing. During the 50th St.Gallen Symposium, participants will look for solutions as to how trust can be restored and maintained.

Safeguarding the future of the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic
Governments are spending a great deal of money on mastering the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. Will the next generation have to pay the price for this or will it profit from this expenditure? Under the chairmanship of Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, the following personalities will investigate this question: Prof. Stephanie Kelton, Professor of Economics at Stony Brook University (USA), Marianne Janik, General Manager of Microsoft Germany, Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Singapore, and Kira Peter-Hansen (Denmark), Member of the European Parliament.

The crisis an an opportunity to reinforce international cooperation?
The Covid-19 crisis has decoupled the world in many respects, inter alia in the field of travel and trade. A withdrawal from globalisation appears to be the consequence. Possibly, the current crisis also offers an opportunity for rethinking globalisation. Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter, Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung, and Hervé Berville, Member of the French National Assembly, will discuss the challenges, opportunities and options of international cooperation in times of crisis under the chairmanship of Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China.

Recovering the young generation’s trust through climate protection
Global measures against climate change have hardly lost any steam in the face of the pandemic. How can governments suit their actions to the words in order to restore the trust of the younger generation, which is calling for climate protection? Chaired by Nina dos Santos (CNN), a panel consisting of Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler, Mamphela Ramphele, Co-President of the Club of Rome, Rich Lesser, CEO of BCG, and Luisa Neubauer, a climate activist from Germany, will try to answer this question.

EcoOst St.Gallen Symposium: public event on 17 May 2021
Besides the public live streams during the Symposium days, a public event with the main topic of “Trust in times of uncertainty” will be conducted on 17 May 2021. It will take place in the Lokremise St.Gallen and be jointly run by the Chambers of Commerce of St.Gallen, Appenzell Ausser- and Innerrhoden, and Thurgau. During this event, the findings of the St.Gallen Symposium which are relevant to the regional economy and population will be presented in the form of a dialogue between generations. This year’s speakers include Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga, Martha Niquille, President of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, as well as “generation tandems”.