Pre-summit day of WGS 2024 kicks off in Dubai


DUBAI: The pre-summit day of the World Governments Summit (WGS) 2024 kicked off this morning in Dubai. The summit will officially open tomorrow and run until February 14 under the theme “Shaping Future Governments.”

The pre-summit day features the Arab Fiscal Forum and the Arab Meeting for Young Leaders, with a wide participation of senior officials, experts, futurists, decision-makers, thought leaders, and representatives of international organisations.

The WGS is a global platform that brings together more than 25 heads of state and government, over 85 international and regional organisations and global institutions, 120 government delegations, and a group of thought leaders and experts from around the world. The summit will discuss major global future trends in more than 110 main dialogue and interactive sessions, featuring 200 international speakers. In addition, more than 23 ministerial meetings and executive sessions will be held with the participation of more than 300 ministers.

The 8th Arab Fiscal
Forum, organised by the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the Arab Monetary Fund and the International Monetary Fund, is being held under the theme “”Designing more efficient and equitable fiscal policies to address debt vulnerabilities and future fiscal challenges in a world of tighter financing constraints”.

The forum will be attended by the Ministers of Finance and the Governors of the Central Banks of the Arab countries, alongside Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Dr. Fahad M. Alturki, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund, and 100 senior officials and specialists from regional and international institutions.

It will include four dialogue sessions – macroeconomic developments and prospects, successful energy subsidy reforms and targeted social safety nets, a balance sheet approach for generating value from public assets and generating revenue through tax administration reforms.

The third edition of
the “Arab Meeting for Young Leaders” showcases a number of initiatives, experiences, and youth studies at the Arab level that are concerned with empowerment, capacity building, and skill development. These initiatives contribute to enhancing youth participation in the sustainable development process in the Arab world. The meeting also discusses the role of values in promoting elements of national identity among young people.

The meeting highlights the values of social cohesion, which is considered a fundamental pillar for building strong and sustainable societies. This is done by involving young people in efforts to promote commonalities between the components of society, related to identity, language, and cultural heritage.

The meeting is attended by 15 Arab youth ministers, more than 20 decision-makers, heads of youth institutions, and more than 100 young leaders of community development organisations. There are also more than 32 speakers from different disciplines and fields. The Arab Meeting for Young L
eaders includes a number of sessions.

The third edition of the “Arab Youth Pioneers” initiative will also be launched during the Arab Meeting for Young Leaders. This initiative celebrates creative and innovative Arab youth.

The meeting of Arab youth ministers will also be held, as well as a ministerial workshop to exchange best practices in the field of food and water security in cooperation with the World Bank. There will also be a roundtable discussion on progress within the activities of the Government Knowledge Exchange Programme, in addition to a presentation of the transformative projects of the participants in the International Government Managers Programme and the graduation of the programme’s participants.

The summit will host 15 global forums focusing on developing future strategies and plans in vital sectors concerning humanity. These forums, organised in partnership with international organisations, global technological institutions, and leading companies, aim to innovate new solutions for the
challenges facing human societies.

These forums include the Global Health Forum, Government Services Forum, Arab Government Administration Forum, Knowledge Exchange Forum, Future of Transportation Forum, Public Finance Forum for Arab Countries, Future of Education Forum, Space Future Forum, and Advanced Industry and Technology Forum.

The WGS 2024 continues its diverse dialogues through forums such as the Artificial Intelligence Forum, the Future of Work Forum, the Emerging Economies Forum, the Governance of Geotechnology Forum, the Sustainable Development Goals Forum, in addition to the Arab Meeting for Young Leaders.

Source: Emirates News Agency