Seventh Summit on the Global Agenda Aimed at Shaping the Transformations of the World

• Over 1,000 members of the world’s foremost community of experts gather in Dubai to generate insight and action to address the most pressing and critical global challenges
• Three-day Summit is held in partnership with the Government of the United Arab Emirates and marks the fifth time the Summit has been held in Dubai

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 8 November 2014 – The seventh Summit on the Global Agenda opens tomorrow in Dubai, convening over 1,000 globally recognized experts from academia, government, business, civil society and the media under the theme, Shaping the Transformations of the World. Held in partnership with the Government of the United Arab Emirates, the co-chairs of the Summit are Sultan Saeed Nasser Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, and Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi, Director-General, Department of Economic Development, Government of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
This year’s Summit marks the fifth time that it will have been held in Dubai, and the seventh successive year it will have been hosted in the United Arab Emirates. It also comes at a critical juncture in global, regional and industry agendas, as instability and disruption continue to pose unprecedented challenges to world leaders.

Thought leaders attending the Summit each belong to one of 80 Global Agenda Councils, each of which is mandated to originate solutions and opportunities for a specific global, regional or industry challenge. These 80 councils are complemented by six meta-councils, which comprise experts from across the Network of Global Agenda Councils to address wider issues beyond the remit of any one individual council.

Innovations at this year’s Summit include the inaugural GAC Vision Award, designed to recognize councils that have achieved breakthrough results in the previous two-year term. Another innovation is Future Circles, a strategic policy retreat that is taking place after the Summit and pairs experts from the network with senior leaders from the UAE government to generate insights that will contribute to the UAE’s transformation. The Summit will also boast an unprecedented public agenda, with over five press conferences webcast live and two television debates.

“The Global Agenda Councils, with well over 1,000 members, have become the largest global expert network in the world. It is absolutely vital, in the context of an interconnected complex world, to have a place where the best minds come together in an interdisciplinary way to share their expertise, to look for solutions and to propose action. I have seen again and again how discussions here in Dubai have impacted the thinking of global leaders. It is our ambition, together with the government of the UAE, to make the meeting of the Global Agenda Councils a reference for collaborative efforts of experts from business, politics and civil society to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges facing the world,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.

“In today’s world we cannot function in isolation, which is why the Summit on Global Agenda has assumed such relevance. By hosting the Summit, the UAE is presenting to the world our own initiatives and strategic approaches in sustaining our growth momentum. As the UAE brainstorms for a better world, sharing the success of the UAE in creating a growth environment will be invaluable in finding effective solutions to crisis situations and redefining the world’s development agenda,” said Sultan Saeed Nasser Al Mansoori.

“We see the Summit on the Global Agenda as an endorsement of Dubai’s role in generating transformational ideas that will shape a brighter and more inclusive tomorrow. As we host this Summit in Dubai once again, we see this as an opportunity to showcase our growth model before the world. We feel this is the perfect platform to inspire other emerging economies to make sincere efforts towards generating prosperity and happiness in their societies,” said Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi.