Revealed: who is taking part in the World Economic Forum MENA?

Meeting will convene more than 1,000 government, business and civil society leaders from over 50 countries on April 6-7.

The World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa will be held at the Dead Sea in Jordan on this weekend in partnership with the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD).

This will be the 10th meeting in Jordan and 17th meeting in the region and will convene more than 1,000 government, business and civil society leaders from over 50 countries on April 6-7.

Under the theme Building New Platforms of Cooperation, the meeting will focus on four transformational imperatives - shaping a new economic and social model for the region; environmental stewardship in the Arab world; finding common ground in a multiconceptual world; and the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Arab world.

Mirek Dusek, deputy head of Centre for Geopolitical and Regional Affairs and member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum, said: “The region is at a pivotal time of taking the bold decisions necessary to future-proof its societies and economies. At this meeting, we will hold several strategic dialogues, with particular attention on the relationship between the public, private and civic sectors, the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on skills and jobs, and new initiatives to help resolve long-standing conflicts.”

The co-chairs of this year’s meeting are Khalid Al Rumaihi, chief executive, Bahrain Economic Development Board; Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment of the UAE; Rania A Al-Mashat, Minister of Tourism of Egypt; Alain Bejjani, CEO, Majid Al Futtaim Holding; Wafa Ben-Hassine, MENA policy counsel, Access Now, US; Sumantra Chakrabarti, president, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); Tony F Chan, president, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST); and Sigrid Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands.

Among the public figures taking part in the meeting are Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations; Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria; Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Nationality Authority and chairman of the Executive Committee, Palestine Liberation Organisation; Armen Sarkissian, President of Armenia; Emine Erdogan, First Lady of Turkey; Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia; Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence of the UAE; Yusuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Oman;  Ghassan Hasbani, Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon; and Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain.