 Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I'm Adrian Monk head of communications and media at the World Economic Forum and welcome to this opening press conference for our 2011 summit on the global agenda Joining me here for the press conference his Excellency Sultan bin Said Al Mansourie the Minister of Economy from the United Arab Emirates and co-chair of the summit on the global agenda and His Excellency Mohammed Omar Abdullah undersecretary from the Department of Economic Development here and also co-chair for the summit and My colleague on the managing board of the World Economic Forum Mr. Borga Brenda who heads our government relations and constituent engagement that will be saying a few words About the summits introducing what we're talking about here and its importance Afterwards we'll take a few questions Everyone is on I'm afraid of pretty tight schedule So we'll have to keep things very much running on Swiss time before We launch into their introductions just a reminder that this is Devoted to talking about the topics that we're dealing with here at the summit and the summit itself if you have anything Specific to the brief of any of the gentlemen on stage with me Please feel free to take it up with their staff and representatives who are represented outside But we will keep things firmly on on track of what we're doing here in Abu Dhabi So without further ado, I'm gonna ask His Excellency the Minister of Economy for United Emirates to introduce the summit Good morning. Good morning. I'll do my Presentation or speech in English and then I think most of you do speak English But if there's any need to an Arab because so we will refer to it when it's needed in this case I would like to welcome the International and the local media to this very important summit This summit as you all know is being held now for the fourth time here in the United Arab Emirates We are very proud as a country and also as a government in terms of our participation in this summit both the federal government of the United Arab Emirates and also the local government which is going to Abu Dhabi this time is participating in Supporting this very important summit You probably have also noticed that their participant has increased We have 800 participants who have almost 80 countries who claim to join us today to share From their side with the best of expertise in the different fields that they are going to discuss during the council's 79 consoles are going to be working very hard in the next two days to make sure that proper recommendation are coming out for the different issues that will be handled during this time Of course the OE one of the major reason why we went into this is we believe The in that the OE should be an active participants an addressing a number of urgent issues whether it is the financial or economic or the food security or renewable energy We actually are already taking some action with regard to these very important and very critical issues Meanwhile, also our participation in this as a country also To give more of a guideline toward the younger generation of the United Arab Emirates to be able to participate in a future Hopefully also economic forums that will be held in Davos and that is something that we always encourage from our side I would like to welcome the media once again to this very important summit And I am sure we are going to see each other through the summit. Thank you again. Minister. Thank you very much And now I'd like to call on His Excellency Mohammed Omar Abdullah to introduce his remarks Bismillah Rahman Raheem again I want to welcome you on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi and this very Important occasion as his Excellency the minister said this is the fourth time you are he have hosted this important event And we are delighted to have representation from about 80 countries in our country of Course we are working jointly with the federal government to ensure we represent you a e in a good manner as you know now we Shortly we will celebrate the 40 the 4th national the 40th national day for the UAE and it happened that it This is the 4th the 40 the 40th For the For the for the summit this is a 40 40 years has bought for this has bought for this summit So it's coincidentally has happened and we are delighted to to take this occasion to enhance our relationship with This important organization and to demonstrate the pace of development in our country Which represents the wisdom of our leadership in UAE? So again, I want to welcome you and I hope during this welcoming two days you will be able to interact with the leaders in area of businesses and and the academies and Wish you all the best inshallah. Thank you. Thank you very much and Boca Brenda my colleague is already coming for him can tell you a little bit more about how the forum Organizes this summit and how it integrates into the work of the forum or widely Thank You Adrian and Ministers, thank you For your contribution here today, but also Thank you to their Excellencies for being co-chairs for this very unique summit gathering the 800 leading experts in the world from Academia business international organizations governments and civil society and I think this summit this year takes place against the backdrop of unprecedented challenges not only has to share of challenges increased compared to last year, but also indeed the complexities and The complexities a are some an area where we're gonna have a deep dive This year and having more having 79 Consoles 79 consoles with more than 800 council members here ranging from areas of sovereign debt to Currency issues to the nexus of Water Climate change and food also mentioned by the ministers are some of the examples What we will do in the course of these two days is also Develop new models new models on how to tackle these Unprecedented challenges that I just mentioned because we are seeing that it is necessary To also deal with global issues at the global level You know that a lot of the institutions that were created after the Second World War the Bretton Woods institutions and the UN is Was developed For different kind of challenges that we're seeing today the uniqueness of this largest Brainstorming in the world by taught leaders is That we Will have a chance also to meet across the consoles if you have a console on climate change that we do have We'll also of course then meet with the console on water will meet on the console that we have for food Security the console will also then have a lunch with the console on disaster management Disaster preparedness so We are able to link those Challenges and issues together. I think that's very unique and also that we do it in a multi stakeholder context is business meeting with governments and governments meeting with International organizations and again with civil society. I think maybe what Is what is more and more important globally is that all the stakeholders are gathered together to Today it is governments within meeting with governments and is business with business and the uniqueness of the world economic forum is that we bring experts from all walks of life together and Can have Look at the challenges from that angle Thank you, okay. Thank you very much and just to I suppose emphasize and bring home the fact that We call this the you know the world's biggest brainstorming and we do that because it brings together this Multidisciplinary group all of the people who are here today You know regular speakers throughout the world at different specialist conferences and congresses in their own disciplines But actually bringing them into one place together with people from 79 different areas is a very extraordinary and unusual Thing we think it's unique and just to give you an example last night Just getting off the bus you had one of the world's leading neuroscientists in conversation with a climate scientist And one of the world's leading technologists and in facilitating those kind of conversations Is one of the really unique things about this meeting and one of the really important opportunities? To give people a chance to think both inside their areas at the very highest level and also a little bit outside the box through Those serendipitous Conversations they might have with people who otherwise they would never come across except through The work of yourselves in the media So we've got a little period for some questions if I could ask you to Make your questions specific to the meeting, please If you'd like to take anything up specific to any of these gentlemen's individual briefs Then please feel free to do so offline. Could you just tell us who you are and your news organization and? Just looking at the gentleman in the front and there's a gentleman on the side there. So sir, can you just tell us? Your name and where you're from Good morning. This is Abdullah Zaabi. I'm chief editor of Economic in Abu Dhabi TV. Well, my question will be for Mr To his eye in the Sultan and also Mr. Brandy It's about how the summit agenda how the summit agenda will affect the economy world in this particular time Well, I think as you have heard it These are the best brains of the world are here to deal in a very sort of active way In detailed manner also the issues and the problems which are having right now in the world a world economy in general And in particular with regard to the financial situations In different regions of the world The way it is done and this is how the summits Procedures have been always done is this is actually used and utilized as a road To the house Davos is going to be in January The recommendation based on the meetings of the different councils will be carried to the Leaders who are usually a large number of leaders usually attend Davos These kind of ideas and thoughts and recommendation will be discussed also through the Davos Meeting and then afterward it will be hopefully fed into the right decision makers within the Different countries will be attending Davos Thank you. I would like to underline what the minister just said that this Summit is the intellectual backbone and the council members are intellectual backbone of the world economic forum shaping the agenda No for Davos, but also shaping the agenda on the work that the world economic forum Is doing on the G20 agenda and also in the preparations for a Rio plus 20 And I would like this opportunity to also Make a compliment to the government of UAE for the leadership the government has shown in the G20 Work we have just signed an MOU between the world economic forum and the government of Mexico where The world economic forum is going to give important Content input through three task forces or four task forces in preparations for Mexico's G20 presidency next year and then it's very pertinent that also all the agenda consoles the 79 will The work day and the results of what you're coming up with during these two days will also be important input in This process and the feedback from people last night when I met with the hundred Almost a hundred Key people of the consoles where that of course also UAE is no more and more a hub for education research and also Then entrepreneurship, so it's a very good place to have this Summit on the economy economic topics there will also be Clear interactions between the consoles as I mentioned we have a console looking at the fiscal crisis We also have consoles that looking at the bank sector. We have consoles that are Having a tough look on youth unemployment inclusive growth and all this has to be seen And looked at in a holistic way if you don't fix the banks You cannot fix the economy if you don't fix the current currency Instabilities you will not fix the global economy and the overall team is to develop a model where you can avoid a second dip and revive inclusive economic growth Thanks, I would just say this meeting serves a double purpose for us It's both the temperature taking of 800 of the world's leading experts in a whole range of different fields And that feeds into what we do for Davos because we have programmed team Members attached to all these councils getting the feedback from them and really getting insights from them They can translate into programming for our meeting in January and it also serves as a long-term Agenda-setting meeting where people can talk about cross-disciplinary goals how for example insights from Neuroscience can inform debates on economic motivation How we can use that in policy terms and where we need to be doing work in order to actually Provide the intellectual content to help those kind of things come to fruition. So it's a very interesting Meeting and I know from a media perspective to some degree a little frustrating because the conversations they have in those in those councils Are very intense and direct especially amongst the councils. They spend a lot of time talking amongst themselves I know we'll be doing our best to get them out to try and talk to you too Gentlemen in the corner Just a logistical question, please could we have the names of these experts and guest speakers, please Sure, there's a participants handbook, and I'm sure Lucy J. Kennedy who's the lady right behind you in the white Okay, we'll be very pleased to give you those details. Thank you. I'm mr. Brenda. It's usually my I Congratulate you on your modesty. You only give your last name This is unusual for a journalist to experience because people always want to tell you everything about themselves Could I have your full name in your title, please? Thank you for making me aware My first name is Burger, but let's say B. O. R. G. E. Burger I'm managing director at the World Economic Forum in charge of government relations and constituents Thank you for the opportunity to share that I did introduce him in the beginning But I know I probably rushed over the I didn't go into spelling so my apologies for that um Two gentlemen on the front row lady of the bank lady on the front. So we're probably On the time mush a few questions together if we may say your Excellency is Himendra Kumar from Gulf news My question is to both Excellencies present here the question is What is the UAE doing in order to safeguard its interests Should the European debt crisis go out of hand We have only been seeing new posturings, but no conclusive or decisive action from among eurozone member countries and The markets worldwide are sitting on the edge now if the matters go out of hand. What are the preventive steps? UAE and Abu Dhabi in particular have taken to Mitigate the impact. That's a fascinating question. I'm sure someone here will be talking about it But I don't know if it actually reaches into what we're discussing at the summit Can I just ask of that gentleman and this is the area of sure and it's the kind of issue I'm sure that the minister deals with his everyday work, but here at talking about the summit. We are Trying to stay very much in the respect of the 800 people we've gathered together Can I just ask the gentleman next to you if he has a question? Good morning My question is there's gonna be another one economic forum end of the month so How is the outlook of each of these two forums? Borger can probably explain the difference to you The difference in topic the meeting you're referring to is we're having a meeting in two weeks in Jordan Which is a special meeting on? Job jobs of employment in the Arab world for good. Do you want to speak a little more? So? What we are having here is an annual meeting we have three annual meetings at the world economic forum We have annual meeting in Davos Then we have an summer Davos taking place in China every year And then we have the annual meeting for the global agenda taking place here it's one of the three Large global meetings of the world economic forum here shaping the intellectual agenda the special meeting in Jordan taking place in in almost two weeks is on Job creation and economic growth in the Arab world It's a regional summit for the Arab world that we also have every year of course there is also a lot of interest connected to this summit as it is to this summit because of the keen interest for the region and especially on job creation and Reviving economic growth. So exactly. This is a very As Borger said this this summit really is our kind of global intellectual Kind of meeting where we bring together this diverse field of experts the meeting in Jordan is going to focus very much on one regional issue Which is the importance of job creation and it's going to be much less about Policy and long-term planning and and strategizing and interdisciplinary work and much more about how can businesses government and NGOs and civil society get together meaningfully to create actual job opportunities now across the region. So it's much more directly focused very much more similar to our Usual type of meeting this meeting has a really special character Which is a little hard to get across unless you've actually been into one of the councils and my It was my privilege in the first year when I was professor to actually participate in one of them And it really is a very a different type of meeting that we're engaged in here and I'm It's the kind of thing that might make news in ten years time So my apologies if you're feeling a little frustrated Can I just ask the lady there in the in the back and the lady there to Contribute and then we're going to have to afraid move on because Schedules are tight. You're not slamming from Dow Jones your excellency. I'm sorry When talking to the guys outside the delegates, what's on your mind the biggest challenge facing the economy? and Just in in case things just really blow up outside in Europe and especially in Greece What's going to be in the impact on the banks? Are you asking banks take extra provisions? Starting now or you're gonna wait until things really happen. Thank you. Okay, and we'll just take lady on the front if we may Martina from writer is a good morning. I have a question for his excellency Alman suri. I want to ask how you think the Arab world should react to the European and the US crisis and How you think they are handling the situation at the moment? Okay, thank you very much to start for the challenges Which we foresee in the UAE economy and actually it is similar to what we see also all over the world And that's how to align the current situation toward hopefully a future growth This is a challenge for all nations of the world But what is good about this country being also small in the size of the area But quite big and strong in the economic side and Relative to its size is that we have managed early 2008 to set up the proper structure to address any kind of financial research as they develop A committee was at that time because proposed and was established by which myself as a minister of economy the minister of Finance was there and also the governor of the central bank and I would like to stress this again because this is a continuous Committee that we hold our meeting a regular basis to address any issues What have been achieved without committee is that we have been able to monitor the Situation at the banks in a very regular basis to address any issues that might arise as they happen and be able also to Move on with the providing for the right solutions Meanwhile also this issue of the crisis that happened in 2008 and on have also taught us to restructure our economy and Focus more in certain sectors as opposed to some of the other sectors where our economy was moving much bigger in terms of a spot specific participation and Hence now we have sort of restructured it in a way that we aim to increase the participation of sectors such as Tourism industries trade Financial services and many others in a way to and also logistics because that's a very important issue Which is also being discussed here to the way that we are able to fulfill The potential that we have as a country toward also serving the rest of the region the second question or second part of the questions was both of them actually were dealing with the crisis and the current situation in both Europe and The US as I said the team is ready if there are any issues that might arise which Concerns our financial institutions This committee is always ready to address these issues and to be able to handle any Crisis that might happen within our financial institution, which I do not foresee any Due to my understanding our exposure there is very small Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much my thanks to our co-chairs and to mr. Brander we have to move on to our plenary session so I hope that you'll have an opportunity to talk to as many of our participants as possible and Get some insights into the kind of work they're doing. Thank you very much