Invest GCC 2024 January Issue 2

Upholding COP28 momentum Delegates of Davos 2024 will explore themes including reforming multilateral approaches, leveraging AI for the benefit of all members of society, upholding the momentum from COP28, and maintaining an open trade system. The annual meeting will be centered on rebuilding trust in an environment of rapid transformation. Some 2,500 delegates and hundreds of others gather in Davos during this period, making it perhaps the largest assembly of global decision makers every year. “I’ve had some of my best informal conversations with amazing leaders at the after-dinner events,” according to Acha Leke, senior partner at McKinsey. Another McKinsey senior partner Enno de Boer aptly characterised the meeting: “It’s business speed dating on steroids.”

The event will bring together over 100 governments, major international organisations and around 1,000 companies, as well as civil society leaders, renowned experts, social entrepreneurs, the media outlets and youth leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America. Around 2,000 to 3,000 people are on the official invite list, though many more flock to fringe events, swelling the population of the resort town from its modest permanent base of around 11,000. GCC plays lead role Every year, a record number of Arab heads of state, ministers & government officials, top CEOs and policymakers attend WEF’s annual meeting in Davos as they play key role in mediation and find solutions of global issues. Leading Gulf business groups in public and private sector offer support to WEF initiatives and some of them are major strategic partners of the forum. Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain Economic Development Board, DP World, Majid Al Futtaim Holding and Mubadala Investment from the UAE, and Qatar Investment Authority are WEF partners from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Leading Gulf businesses and corporate leaders are expected to attend this year’s forum and play a major role in the WEF by actively participating and contributing to the discussions and initiatives aimed at shaping the global economic and social agenda.

What is the World Economic Forum? German economist Klaus Schwab established World Economic Forum in 1971. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the forum has emerged as an international not-for-profit organisation focused on promoting cooperation between the public and private sectors. WEF seeks to foster a spirit of collaborative entrepreneurship to address global issues and shape governmental, industry, and social agendas. WEF 2024 DATES This year’s annual meeting in Davos will take place January 15–19, 2024.

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INVEST GCC: DAVOS 2024

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