Leading lights from the global cannabis industry will descend upon Davos, Switzerland, for a conference that runs alongside the World Economic Forum this month.
It is the latest in a series of CannaTech events hosted around the world by Israeli cannabis firm iCAN, and it has partnered with the Canadian Securities Exchange, OTC markets, and Kapoor Capital in Davos for this conference. It will take place at the Canada pavilion lounge, while the world’s economic leaders meet in the Swiss city to discuss global finance.
The star draw at the conference is former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who is now the chairman at InterCure (INCR.TA). The organizers have also secured the services of Anthony Scaramucci, President Donald Trump’s former director of communications. He will interview Barak about why he decided to get involved in the marijuana industry and the opportunities he sees going forward.
Guests include Roei Zerahia, chief executive at CANNDOC; Yona Levy, chief executive of Alvit and Tefen; Eyal Barad, chief executive at Cannabics; Lorne Gertner, chairman of Hiku Brands; and Jason Warnock, chief executive of TheraCann.
“Cannabis is part and parcel of the next wave of globalization and a serious discussion in Davos could not be more timely,” said iCAN’s Saul Kaye.
The conference will take place on January 22-25, and then CannaTech will shift its focus to Latin America. Its next event, the Summit for Accelerating Medical Cannabis Innovation, takes place in Panama in February.
The summit will tackle topics including science and medicine, ag-tech and innovation, business and finance, and policy and regulation, all with an emphasis on Latin America.
Kaye noted that medical cannabis is legal in 10 Latin American countries and he estimates that the region’s marijuana market will be worth $12.7 billion by 2028. “Cannabis business interest in Latin America is exploding due to numerous factors including low cost of production and facilities as compared to North America and Europe,” he said.
North American companies are piling into Mexico, Colombia, and other Latin American countries in a bid to establish themselves as leading players in this emerging region. The latest is Vancouver-based Organto Foods Inc. (TSX-V: OGO,OTC: OGOFF), which has just won a coveted license from Colombia’s Ministry of Justice to cultivate CBD at its facility in Guasca, Cundinamarca, Colombia.
Organto acquired 100% of Medicannabis, a late-stage license applicant, in November 2018 and created a subsidiary called Medicannabis S.A.S. It came with uncertainties and risks, but it said most of them have now been mitigated as a result of this license being granted. Its first harvest will now begin towards the end of 2019 and it will start selling CBD products by the first quarter of 2020.
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