Having already enjoyed World Economic Forum bashes in Davos and Istanbul this year, I was pleased the WEF came to me in Dubai this time, with its annual summit of experts from the global agenda councils.
The Dubai experience, in the glitzy splendour of the Madinat Jumeirah complex, was yet another contrast.
Davos in January was laden with all the gravitas and snootiness of the real "A list" of global movers and shakers, injected with a big fix of Swiss efficiency.
Dubai was somewhere in between. The big set-piece plenary sessions were just as well attended and lavishly staged as at Davos, but there was an informality in the Madinat corridors and gardens that would have gladdened any Turk.
Many of the council members, obviously frustrated at being holed up in the little cubbyholes of the council area (off limits to press) took the opportunity to decamp to the more relaxed atmosphere of the Madinat's lakeside gardens for a bit of less formal brainstorming.
And very pleasant it looked too. For sure there won't be much open-air think-tanking in Davos, where temperatures last year hit minus 10.
*****
By calling Davos participants the "A list" I don't mean to imply that the gathering in Dubai was the "B list".
In fact, there were some illustrious names from the worlds of business, finance and politics, as well as a fair few stars of the UAE firmament in attendance.
The main draw, of course, was the opening plenary session in the presence of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The whirr of TV cameras and snapping of photographers was frenetic.
The most impressive speaker of the first two days, surprisingly in my opinion, was Gordon Brown. The former British prime minister, now the United Nations special envoy on education, always struck me as a bit of a bore in his days in politics.
But freedom from the burden of high office has obviously freed the latent after-dinner speaker in the man. He was eloquent, effective, and in a dry kind of way, even funny.
"There are two kinds of finance minister, in my experience," he told the audience in a debate on global governance. "Those who fail and those who get out in time. I was one of those," he cracked.
*****
One of the main focuses of the panel discussion on which Mr Brown appeared was the vital subject of women's empowerment.
It really is an important issue, especially in the Middle East, and the WEF should be congratulated on opening its doors wider to women this year. A WEF insider tells me there were at least 250 female participants among the experts on the councils, a higher proportion than at any of its other gatherings, including Davos, and many more than at last year's gathering in Abu Dhabi.
So it was, ahem, surprising that so few women made it onto the big set-piece debates and plenary sessions. Even the Brown panel, which discussed female empowerment with earnest conviction, was entirely male.
The point was not lost on the moderator, the BBC's Nick Gowing, who went out of his way to take questions from female members of the audience.
fkane@thenational.ae
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
THE%20SPECS
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The%20specs
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FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed