For the past 10 years, an annual summit in Dubai has brought together leaders, thinkers, policymakers and experts in diverse fields from the country and around the globe. The World Government Summit, being held this week, is one the world’s major platforms for high-level delegates to exchange ideas on a broad and urgent range of topics.
This time, from the region and beyond, 20 presidents and hundreds of ministers will participate at the summit, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. There will also be in attendance Nobel Prize winners, policymakers and corporate figures. Elon Musk of Twitter and Tesla, Ray Dalio of Bridgewater, and Christian Bruch of Siemens Energy are just some of the headliners.
High-level summits with illustrious participants who have extensive domain knowledge and experience go a long way to set the global agenda for the coming year. It is fair to say that given the scope of participation and breadth of topics and in-depth nature of dialogues – and even bilateral agreements – conferences such as the World Government Summit and last month's annual World Economic Forum at Davos shape the course of the year's relevant and pressing discussions. For its part, the UAE is an especially conducive and neutral ground in facilitating these discussions and is uniquely equipped to bring together different personalities across sectors and nationalities.
Summits such as these become especially important as they foster co-operation between public and private sectors
Talking over three days and addressing a large multinational audience will be professor Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum; Kristalina Georgieva of the International Monetary Fund; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organisation and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organisation. The International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Labour Organisation will also participate and share their knowledge and perspectives.
When such important cross-sector dialogues are facilitated, summits such as these become especially important in one respect: they foster co-operation between public and private sectors. This is crucial as it helps draw two necessary strands together – the necessary investment that private players bring to the table and the vision of governments, with their ability and power to implement ideas for the benefit of society at large.
Such critical partnerships are often and rightly hailed as being essential to tackle vast problems facing the world, be it ending global hunger, drought, disease, pandemics or natural disasters such as the Turkey-Syria earthquake, to name just a few of the crises with which the world is, sadly, all too familiar.
As the summit in the UAE once again enables dialogue between representatives of vital sectors, there will be a widening of knowledge thanks to discussions on next generation ideas – be it climate change, food systems, AI, technology, education, health care, or new fields still in the early stages of discovery or conceptualisation.
When leaders from different countries, backgrounds and expertise discuss pressing challenges and talk about long-term crises, there is an eye on feasible solutions. What this means is simple: by thinking about larger problems, talking about them at such forums, answers begin to take shape. This, in many ways, is the whole point of international summits and it is why we need to pay attention to them.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20electric%20motors%20with%20102kW%20battery%20pack%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E570hp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20890Nm%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Up%20to%20428km%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C700%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster
Bib%20Gourmand%20restaurants
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Elvis
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
