T+ T – Normal size

The Arab Strategic Forum, which was launched in 2001 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, embodies leadership in anticipating and planning for the future and developing proactive and alternative solutions to identify the necessary requirements to confront various challenges. future regionally and internationally.

The Arab Strategic Forum, which falls under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation, is a unique platform in anticipating geopolitical and economic events regionally and globally, and brings together senior government officials, strategic experts and academics from the Arab region and the world, to benefit from opinions, reliable source data, and in-depth analyses. With the aim of facilitating the process of anticipating future regional challenges and opportunities.

The forum presents a clear forward-looking picture to decision-makers about the future of many issues. This contributes to enabling them to develop strategic plans to confront geopolitical and economic challenges, and also provides accurate forecasts about important events throughout the year.
In 2001, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him,” directed the launch of the forum, with the aim of bringing together thinkers, political experts, economists and decision-makers on one platform, as it works to benefit from two scientific approaches: the Strategic forecasting and the strategic approach to planning for the future.

The forum, which was held from November 12 to 14, 2001, provided a distinguished framework for exchanging knowledge and opinions between all officials from various private and government sectors and a group of international experts, where the new economic future was studied and priorities and strategies were determined in the competitive environment of the current century.

In 2001, the forum looked at the new economy and witnessed His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum revealing Dubai’s strategic vision over the next ten years, where His Highness stressed that developments and changes in the international arena are following with amazing speed and imposing on all of humanity new concepts in politics, economics and trade. Culture, society, and lifestyle are what prompts Dubai to invite specialized experts and internationally acclaimed university professors to dialogue with them about the details of the global scene and its basic variables, whether in the new economy or in politics, society, and international relations.

Regional orientation
The Arab Strategic Forum in 2002, which was launched under the slogan “Communication for Progress,” carried a regional dimension, as it presented a comprehensive picture of the challenges facing the region, and shed light on global changes and current and future developments in the areas of the economic and political future.

Over the course of three days, the forum discussed a number of important topics related to the comprehensive development process in the countries of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the most important of which are corporate strategies and investor confidence in the performance of international companies, in addition to ways to address the issue of administrative and financial corruption and ways to get rid of bureaucracy that frustrates efforts to raise the level of comprehensive development on the planet. Every level.

International platform
The forum witnessed a fundamental change, confirming its shift towards the regional and global dimensions, becoming the most prominent event in anticipating the state of the world politically and economically.

In 2004, the forum bore the slogan “The Arab World 2020” and addressed various political, economic, security and social scenarios and the risks and opportunities associated with each of them.

The participants discussed several topics about the trend towards an economy based on free trade and Arab trade exchange, the role of youth in the development of the Arab world, and how to prepare future leaders in the fields of politics, business and society in the Arab world, in addition to the topic of attracting investments in the Arab world and the requirements and conditions for improving the investment environment in the Arab world. .

Global variables
The program of the Arab Strategic Forum, which was launched under the slogan “Global Changes and Opportunities for Success” during the period from 4 to 6 December 2006, focused on three main axes. The first discussed political changes in the Arab region and the world, while the second axis dealt with economic variables, especially the impact of rising prices. Oil in economic policies, the size of political reforms, and investment opportunities available in light of that. He also discussed the role of Arab capital searching for investment opportunities in the Arab region.

The third axis focused on the social aspect, and the extent of the Arab world’s ability to provide job opportunities for tens of millions of Arab youth. The forum also discussed the role played by educational institutions in the Arab world and their ability to keep pace with the requirements of the labor market, in addition to the world’s view of our Arab world and its negative aspects.

The outcomes of the Arab Strategic Forum highlighted the importance of diversifying the economic structure, creating new job opportunities, promoting political reforms, and supporting change processes to extract new growth opportunities in the Arab world.

Participants called for developing education and basic services and formulating strategies to develop human resources.

The importance of the issues discussed by the forum emerged in that they were an attempt to anticipate the economic changes that the world witnessed in 2008. The call for diversification in economic sectors and structural reforms would have been sufficient, if implemented, to somewhat limit the effects of the global financial crisis.

Intellectual property rights

The Arab Strategic Forum, which was held in 2009, was titled “Towards Establishing a Knowledge Society in the Arab World,” where it discussed the importance of knowledge for building a vibrant economy and stable societies, which was proven by the experience of subsequent years, as the conviction deepened in the necessity of modernizing education systems and providing sources of knowledge in order to build a strong economy. Vital and establishing effective and productive societies.

The forum highlighted the vast gap between knowledge and Arab development policies. He also discussed the situation of intellectual property rights and their role in the region’s economy, shedding light on the legislative, regulatory, cultural, and material requirements for consolidating intellectual property rights.

A new and influential role
In 2013, the Arab Strategic Forum held the title Social Networks and the Knowledge Society, highlighting these networks that have begun to play a new and influential role in developing knowledge societies and provide many tools and solutions for countries, decision makers and societies as a whole to improve their countries and exploit culture.

Participants in the forum warned against exploiting these networks politically, stressing the need for the media to keep pace with the interaction taking place on social media networks, which are witnessing an overwhelming flow of information, noting the importance of having decisions in the official media in order to bring about changes in the style of presenting material to the public. And the importance of interacting with them.

Anticipating the geopolitical future
In 2014, the Forum focused on anticipating the geopolitical future of the region and the extent to which it is affected by global changes, in response to the growing intensity of regional conflicts and the polarization they created in the global political scene, and the growing threat of terrorism and armed groups.
A global political and economic intellectual elite discussed two main topics: the first is the most important major political transformations in the world and the existing conflicts and the potential for their aggravation and possible scenarios for them in 2015. The second topic is the attempt to anticipate the global economic growth map and the most important challenges that will face the world economy in 2015.

This edition witnessed a new style in dealing with crucial issues by including four axes: the state of the Arab world politically, the state of the Arab world economically, the state of the world politically, and the state of the world economically.

Speakers at the forum expected the growing role of China and the United States of America on the global political and economic arena, noting that regional conflicts in the region will continue in the absence of serious efforts to develop solutions. They also agreed that the global economy will witness more crises, especially with regard to Europe’s ability to fulfill its public debts. The ability of the global economy to recover in light of the decline in demand for products and raw materials.

A global intellectual and research platform
The edition of the Arab Strategic Forum, which was held in 2015, is considered pivotal in the history of the forum, as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him,” directed the transformation of the Arab Strategic Forum into a global intellectual and research platform aimed at anticipating The future and the state of the world, politically and economically, with the aim of building a scientific model to analyze all geopolitical and economic data.

The forum addressed geopolitical and economic developments in the region and the world, and focused mainly on the potential risks portended by the lack of political and economic uncertainty that prevails in most Arab regions.

The forum witnessed a review of a group of global reports by organizations and institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Economic Forum.

A deeper and more comprehensive read
The edition of the Forum, which was held in 2016, was distinguished by the extent of specialization and professionalism that the Forum acquired through the accumulation of experiences over the past years. The Forum’s sessions witnessed the presence of the most prominent global economic institutions, and specialized discussions from which comprehensive reports were issued under the supervision of a group of local and international experts, in addition to a number of initiatives. Which was issued by the forum to transform political and economic forecasting into a vital scientific function and to form a human cadre specialized in future sciences.

The forum discussed the state of the world and the Arab world, politically and economically, and analyzed the challenges and opportunities that will face the world at the economic and political levels in the year 2017. This edition witnessed the launch of a report on the state of the world in 2017, which reviewed the most prominent expected events in the Arab region and the world, politically and economically, which was prepared according to tools. The political and economic outlook adopted by the forum.

The report addressed the state of the world politically and economically during 2017, in addition to the state of the Arab world politically and economically as well, regional economic expectations, and many political issues of concern to the world and the Arab world.

The forum enjoyed the participation of a group of leading thinkers, experts, political and economic analysts, with the aim of anticipating the state of the world, reading and analyzing the challenges facing the world at the economic and political levels, and developing multiple and alternative analyzes and scenarios that are compatible with the circumstances and interests of the region in conjunction with those events.

Surveying opportunities and monitoring challenges
In 2018, the Arab Strategic Forum presented a survey of opportunities and monitoring of future challenges and how to continue development paths and accelerate their pace, by presenting future visions based on current data and indicators to make accurate readings available to decision makers on which they can base their activities.

This edition of the forum presented topics related to the future of the economy in the region, investments, technology, and others.

It also reviewed the most prominent economic forecasts in the world during 2019, and looked at the country nominated to be the third economic power after America and China.

Despite the global geopolitical changes, the Arab Strategic Forum, in this edition, identified a set of strategic expectations about the state of the world economically and politically for the year 2019, and most participants agreed that there is no justification for pessimism despite all the geopolitical changes that the world is witnessing, foremost of which are; The high risk of cyber attacks, the fifth generation technology war between China and the United States of America, the growing populism in the European Parliament, and the repercussions of the Brexit agreement.

Anticipating the challenges of the next decade
The 2019 edition of the Forum was distinguished by the fact that it expanded the time frame for anticipating the future, to focus on the entire next decade 2020-2030, which gave it special importance in light of the acceleration of geopolitical events and changes that the region and the world are witnessing in recent years.
This edition was held under the title “Foreseeing the Next Decade 2020-2030” with the aim of anticipating the entire next ten years, and the effects of their events on international relations in various political, economic, diplomatic, and other aspects.

This edition witnessed the Arab Strategic Forum issuing 3 reports, the first entitled “The World in 2030… Trends, Transformations, Opportunities and Challenges,” in cooperation with the FutureWorld Foundation, which presented some of the most prominent global events expected in the coming years, including an exposure of the current global system and its main institutions (the United Nations, the Fund The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and the World Trade Organization) will face significant pressure throughout the next decade, and a noticeable decline in the relative importance of the G7 group will appear.

The second report is entitled “11 Questions for the Next Decade,” which was completed in cooperation with Good Judgment Inc., the most accurate institution in the world in geopolitical and economic forecasts. The report answers the most prominent questions raised during the coming period.

Follow UAE news from Al Bayan via Google News