Beirut Institute Summit In Abu Dhabi Edition III Officially Kicks Off In Abu Dhabi
In its third edition, the Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi brings global thinkers and innovators to devise realistic and forward-looking solutions for the ongoing challenges in the Arab region.
The summit under the title “Thinking 2020s: What to expect? How to prepare?” inaugurates officially in the presence of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, the Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance of the host country, UAE, the Beirut Institute co-chair HRH Prince Turki al-Faisal, Member of the Board of Directors at Beirut Institute and Raghida Dergham, Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut Institute.
The summit convenes a wide spectrum of international thinkers hailing from 35 countries, including the United States, Europe, Russia, China, Latin America, Africa, Australia, and all over the Arab region.
In his keynote address, H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance said that this summit is important because of its focus on the generation of ideas and the exchange of knowledge and experiences. He added that the region and the entire world are faced with unprecedented challenges that will require the collaboration of our best and brightest thinkers and doers to navigate successfully.
He added that this summit is dedicated to the belief that the capacity of thinkers and leaders to be agents of change regionally and globally is immense. Sheikh Al Nahayan explained that their full and unhindered contributions are essential to the success and prosperity of national, regional and global communities.
“The circumstances of our world emphasize quite clearly that only by thinking and working together can we collectively reach the promise that human ingenuity offers for a peaceful and prosperous global society. I am, of course, highly influenced in this remark by the historic visits to the UAE of His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad El Tayeb, earlier this year. Their visits were a great tribute to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan who worked tirelessly to make them possible. The visits of the Pope and the Grand Imam focused attention on promoting human fraternity around the globe. They issued the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Human Fraternity that exemplifies the moral force that we all must exert if we are to meet the great global challenges of the twenty-first century,” he added.
His excellency reiterated “In short, it is tolerance that will help define our responsibility to work together in order to build a bright future and take up the banner of peace and preservation of human dignity for all in the development of our local, regional and global communities.”
Sheikh Al Nahayan concluded by thanking “each of you so very much for sharing your wisdom, your energy and your creative ideas with us. My best wishes to each of you for a very stimulating summit and for an enjoyable stay in our country”.
On his part, HRH Prince Turki al-Faisal, Member of the Board of Directors at Beirut Institute, and Summit co-chair thanked the host country “The UAE and its respectful leadership for hosting this unique summit and if it wasn’t for their generosity, we would not have this summit.” He also thanked all participants that honor the gathering and adds value to the discussions.
Al-Faisal thanked Raghida Dergham, the Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut Institute for bringing the audience of the summit together, adding the significance of having a forward-looking dialogue through the Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi.
HRH Prince Turki al-Faisal said looking to the future is the challenge that “always aspires us through our own discussions.” He added “I hope we will have fruitful discussion and debates. We should have a kind of frankness,” elaborating on listening to the different point of views with more tolerance.
Through the summit’s sessions a wide range of thought leaders and decision-makers convenes to explore innovative solutions to ongoing challenges. Nonetheless, recommend influential policy options and strategies that prepare the Arab region for the decade of the 2020s.
In turn, Raghida Dergham, Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut Institute, emphasized the significance of having discussions about a variety of topics that does not only revolve around geopolitics.
“It’s important not to get stuck only on geopolitics,” said Dergham in her opening session of the summit. She added “It is important to allow ourselves to listen to the voice of the youth; those who aspire to think different subjects. So maybe we can explore what to do next, how to address the expectations and how to preserve the ability for taking things forward.”
Dergham thanked the host country United Arab Emirates. She also thanked the board members of the institute including former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
The conversations at the Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi will continue on the second day with the open plenary sessions and the summit will close its events with the 2019 Beirut Institute Summit in Abu Dhabi Declaration that will be put together by this year’s knowledge partner, PwC.
Following the summit, PwC, will develop the official policy recommendations that will later be shared with the decision makers.
