UAE organises session for the first time at World Economic Forum

The forum will include leaders from the Middle East as well as US President Donald Trump and community leaders like Greta Thunberg, and they will discuss sustainability efforts.
2 min read
21 January, 2020
World leaders flock to Devos [Getty]
The UAE is among 220 participants from the Middle East attending the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the first time a Gulf country will be organise a key session with world leaders.

A number of important figures are expected to attend, including Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office; Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, in addition to four ministers in the Federal Government and a number of UAE officials.

The World Economic Forum is an international platform that brings together various leaders of public and private sectors around the world, a number of heads of states, prime ministers, and more than 3,000 dignitaries and officials from all over the world.

The UAE will organise, for the first time a session as part of the meetings' called the Leadership in Future Readiness and Governance.

The forum, which is in its 50th year will focus on sustainability efforts but comes at a tense time globally, when climate change and geopolitics threaten to tip parts of the world into chaos.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at Davos [Getty]

Saudi Arabia is also in attendance, headed by Dr Ibrahim bim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet along with over 50 others in his group.

Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi oil giant Aramco will attend his first WEF as head of a public listed company.

It is expected Saudi Arabia will lead with Vision 2030, a strategy to reduce the country’s dependence on oil, coming in line with the sustainability agenda of the forum.

With American President Donald Trump also in attendance, Iran pulled out of the meeting after the death of its commander Qasem Soleimani following a US strike earlier this month. 

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