 Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Oliver Cann. I work in public engagement at the World Economic Forum. I'd like to welcome you to the eighth annual summit on the global agenda, the third that's taking place here in Abu Dhabi. Very delighted to say this is possibly the most important summit ever held, a very important year for the forum in terms of our established identity as an international organisation for public private cooperation. It's also a very important year for the network itself. It's the councils are entering their second year of their two-year terms, so this meeting will see the further progress towards hopefully positive and profitable fruition of their projects. This will be their second time meeting physically in the United Arab Emirates and hopefully will be a lot of action. You may have noticed there's slight innovation to this press conference format. We've done away with the table. The whole idea is it's more informal and more relaxed, but we'll still have similar format to follow. So I'm going to ask my panellists shortly to offer some insights and a few words on their expectations for the meeting. And then, of course, we'll have plenty of time for questions afterwards. So before we do go to the opening remarks, I'd just like to introduce my panel to my immediate left. It needs their introduction. Sultansade, Nasser, Almanzori, the Minister for Economy, United Arab Emirates. Next we have Ali Majed Almanzori, Chairman of the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi. On my far left, Mr Lee Howe, my colleague and manager director, member of the managing board of the World Economic Forum. So I'm going to start by asking Minister Almanzori just to share with us some of your views on the meeting and perhaps offer some insights into your expectations and your hopes for the next three days. Thank you very much for the introduction. Let me just first thank you also from the media for being here with us this afternoon. Well, definitely your role has been very important. I must really communicate that in terms of really highlighting the importance of this summit, which leads at the end of the day to the big summit, the big forum, which is in Davos. And of course, providing for the right information to the readers, this is essential from your side, because the way I see it is not only us sort of passing the message, but also how the readers are interacting and also sort of behaving with the message that's being being sent through the media. What you write, this is going to be noticed by the leaders around the world, not only here, but I can assure you in the UAE would pay a lot of attention to how you portray your messages. And sometime we do also correct them, by the way, because there might be some misunderstanding or a need for more clarification, and we certainly do that. I would like to start first with why the UAE. Of course, the UAE government has been very committed on an agenda very clear for the year 2021. This is a sort of an agenda that encompass a lot of sectors, including, of course, the economy, social education, and many, many others. And of course, we cannot really achieve success in this without coordination also with the local authorities, with the different emirats. My colleague from the Department of Economic Department in Abu Dhabi, Mr Al-Nasuri, is also very keen. By the way, we came from the same tribe. Maybe some of you asked why we have the same last name. There are no family relationships at the tribe that we have also. It's part of our lines. It is my old brother. Yes. Very nice of you to put. But what we try to do is, you know, the UAE has been a magnet of so many different nationalities. It is known for its tolerance. It's known, of course, on the other side for its excellent impress structure that we have, the east by which you can also come over here. And we have managed over the past 43 years to really establish a very global sort of setup in this country. And everyone feels at home. And we said, why don't we add up to it another dimension, which is trying to put a message to the world through the structure that has been established here, through one of the best and largest organisations, which is the World Economic Forum. And through that, of course, through the summit on the agenda, we are able to benefit but also sometime participate in a very essential issues that not have been on the radar of the wife in general, including some of the issues of the region or issues we're trying to certain maybe challenges that we face here in the UAE to be more specific. And how we can through this kind of meetings and through the attendance of so many of these thought leaders, we could also get their opinion, their viewpoint and them in a very sort of clear and very direct way. Of course, this place has been a centre of trade. As you all know historically, this place we've seen from the Greek to the Romans to the Arab civilization and all across the times has been a very important part of communication with the world and hence this is not strange to us to be able also to hold this kind of meetings here. The contribution of the UAE to the summit has always been very positive. We always try to take some of the success stories that we have achieved over here. One of the success stories of the UAE and I think you have all experienced it is how we have directed the economy and also the revenue is coming from the different sources including oil to build a society well educated, but also to build a very strong economy, a diverse economy that we started with in 1971 with 90% oil reliance on GDP down to only 30% that is coming now from oil with an aim and objective to continue with the diversification of this economy as we move on. Of course it's very important to sustain this growth as we go on. There are a lot of challenges happening in the world right now. I mean as we came out gradually from the crisis of 2008 and we thought we were coming out of it the last year and a half, two years we start having some challenges also here and in the world. I mean from the slow down of the economy of China to some of the challenges in the EU aside from that the political crisis in our region all of it sort of put some kind of a breaks on the way that we in the UAE were looking forward toward having a positive growth in the world economy and of course including the UAE because the UAE benefits from the positive growth of the world economy as I said we are a centre of the world because two days back I was in London and this gentleman British gentleman politician he said you know what we are not anymore the centre of the world you are the centre of the world and I think he takes it geographically but he also takes it from the way we have been able to put the best of the people in this place here and when they talk about globalization I always say we are already living in it this is globalization countries has to be open about it if they want to succeed in the future open up that the best of brains come to you and challenge them and make sure that they also are part of you the summit is very important for us all of us here why because a lot of issues are being discussed individually and sometime at the level of universities, academic and it could be bilateral between ministers it could be between you know some other smaller conferences that's being done but here we will be having up to 900 of the best thought leaders from around the world from so many different countries are participating over here and through this we are openly discussing everything of course they have been they have identified actually nine challenges for this summit and if I may just go through them quickly for your information the nine global challenges initiative that has been identified one is the economic growth and social inclusion the agriculture and food security both of them are important for us also in the ue and we have already taken some steps to addressing these challenges employment skill and human capital environment and resource security future of global financial system future of the internet I think this is something very important for all of us where is this taking us recently we have the gytex in in Dubai and the question that was I first time I've heard it is is this technology taking us in the right direction or this is going to be something challenging for us from a social point of view from many other point of view this is I think we wait to see the answers maybe through some of the expert that we are going to meet in the next two three days the global gender parity international trade and investment and we know with the economic crisis the issue of investment become a challenging issue for many nations especially nations that we are planning and looking forward to attract investment in order to be able to revive their economies again and then long term investment mainly on infrastructure and economic development and of course we recognize this issue way way earlier in the formation of the ue by making sure that the logistics in general whether it is ports airports highways have to be to the best of international standards standards but not only that but to make sure that we sustain the growth that we see in the passengers in the trade and the goods in general to be able to accommodate and make sure that we do not lose that race because it is really a race at the end of the day and my colleague to my left here is one of the best to also maybe highlight a little bit on that issue because I would I be right now is investing a lot in terms of building one of the best airports in the world I had a very good visit to to this airport and I was very impressed with what they are doing over there of course there is Dubai also with the Dubai word central combined with these two and other airports in the we we are looking at a target of 200 million passengers I mean we are already taking a lead from major airports such as Heathrow but looking at 200 million passengers of course it will provide a lot of challenges for us provides the challenges in terms of technology that we will need to implement in this we will be as I mentioned earlier going into uncharted lands in this case or spaces actually because we're doing with spaces airports in particular and how we are able to create innovation that will be able to handle and address these kind of issues in terms of movement of passengers movement of luggage security freight and cargo and many many others so I am leaving a challenge here even for you from the media because this area of technology and when it comes to the transportation and logistics and so on this is going to be something interesting as we move on even within the summit agenda because I do believe it's critical very important for governments to continue around the world not only in the way to continue to invest in infrastructure it is their way forward of growth in the economy thank you thank you just to add a bit of context there but you are you just so in case you missed our global competitiveness report which we launched at the end of September ranked fourth in the world in terms of infrastructure this year so it's a climb from 19th in 2008 so progress in the right direction for sure your excellency Amman Zori perhaps you could also share as some of your views perhaps from your perspective of your position as chairman of the economic development board sure thank you very much thank you very much for everyone to hear today um I'm honored to be a coach here for the summit this year it's the third time this is held in Abu Dhabi and the eighth time in UAE I would just say that to all of you prepare to be thrilled in the next three days I think you will hear lots of good ideas lots of skilled speakers and professors and from around the world with backgrounds of politics economy IT environment we are very excited to have the summit here this year I think most of the discussions will be around very critical issues and as the minister mentioned early there are eight or nine mandates that will be discussed I think you will hear best of the best will come and talk to you we are all looking forward to hear the reviews generally speaking what the next days will carry is very critical piece of information some decision makers will take these informations and may produce valid and good decisions in their businesses or politicals or colleges so we are very excited as the minister mentioned earlier UAE is the center of the world yes we live within the global environment platforms we are diversifying the economy horizontally we used to be a vertical economy back in the 60s and the 80s and we used to be a one single source economy today oil makes up about 30% from the UAE in general Budabi makes up about 50% these wouldn't have to take place if there was no plans strategic initiatives that took place back in the 60s and 70s back in the 70s one of the giants of the investment houses that is on today idea was created in 1976 this was part of the visions that she has seen so back in the 70s and I decided to diversify into other sectors which is financials today the economy is diversified horizontally we are driving this forward I think most of the plans on the federal level on the state level of the Emirates levels are you know driving forward to that plans we are very excited I think the next few days all of us will learn I advise everyone to attend to ask questions we have diversity of ages from college student from high school student into and all people like us here sitting so we'll all learn and we will come you for the third time in Abu Dhabi and wish you good luck thank you thank you now leave it seems to be a clear alignment between our global challenges and the strategic direction of the United Arab Emirates perhaps you can give us some context of how what the global challenges mean in this meeting and what we can expect from the next three days well thank you thank you all and then first let me on behalf of the managing board the world economy for minutes members and partners thank your excellencies for being a co-chair of this eighth summit but also to the government of the United Arab Emirates and of course our partners governments of Abu Dhabi and also of Dubai because I'd like to just focus on I think two red threads that just just come out of this our discussion so far a long-term vision and and really diversification which is another way of saying innovation and the need for diversity of thinking and if you think about reflect on this eighth summit it's it is indeed the most distinct and unique global brainstorming it's it's a brain trust looking at these major global issues over 900 participants from 77 countries this is truly unique in this day and age when you think about a really pulling people together to really focus on common challenges and aspirations but I would also say that it was also very much the brainchild of of the forum's own partnership with the United Arab Emirates and you had mentioned that this is the year where our formal recognition as an international organization for public private collaboration this is really one of the most important and I think symbolic platforms with a summit you raised the issue of the global challenges and of course they're very much aligned if you have a long-term view of things and this is what's arguably in deficit around the world but a long-term view would take you to very much similar places about the importance of education inclusion skills infrastructure in fact infrastructure is a long game and again to the credit of the government it thought of this it was thinking years ahead in fact it's almost if we think about it's like planting trees you have to have a long vision so this is where we're very much aligned because the global challenges that we've set out the nine are going to certainly be our responsibility in this generation but it will really determine the fate of the next generation so again I also want to thank our partners here for not only participating as members of councils and we have a strong contingent of UAE and Marathi experts but we also have invited as observers the younger generation who really are the future and the sooner we can get them to see how we are connected and how this interdependence adds to complexity but also provides opportunity the better I think all of us here if we were able to connect the dots much earlier in our lives about how the global economy works and how and really how innovation and technology we're going to evolve we would have we certainly I think have benefited from that from that early clarity and vision and this is what we attempt to do but I think again central point here is that in order to deal with these long-term issues which we've identified and very much tracked with for example the vision 2021 agenda in this country you'll need to really think through various options this is where the diversification the diversity of thinking comes into play and we have special sessions that rely on new technologies we have transformation maps where we've mapped out the drivers and agents of change in 87 86 different areas and how they interconnect we will be actually that is part of a we have a software package that enables that to help facilitate the conversation we also are very much focused on how to actually advance dialogue and interaction looking a little bit about the behavioral science how do you nudge people to think openly and collaborate because after you map these complex ideas and that's the benefit of the technology you still need to inspire and really in a way motivate people to commit to advancing that and this is what's so special because this part of the world this country is bringing people together and in this instance in the next few days we're doing this for I think a very noble and worthy cause which is really to address collectively these important global challenges so I want to again reiterate the gratitude and appreciation not only from the world economic forum but for all the experts who've traveled from those 77 different countries to our hosts here thank you again thank you now we will take questions as we always do just remind you the the the question that should be directed around the meeting and the purpose of the meeting so please can we have a show of hands first who who wants to be first up okay we'll take the lady there but we'll take mr cain in the front row first mr cain can you remind us where you're from and your name for those who don't know you very well that that yeah hi frank cain from the national newspaper abadabi your your excellency you you reminded us of the very successful policy of economic diversification away from oil dependence but many experts now think that the oil price is locked in a much lower level than it has been historically can the ua afford to continue this policy with oil at $50 a barrel thank you I think it's a good question I've been asked about this so many times and it's not only a challenge for the ua it's a challenge for the rest of the world because so many other nations are very much dependent on oil of course the ua for a long time they have managed to develop quite a sophisticated diversification of the economy and we have also a plan to reduce reliance on oil by further percentage maybe up to another 10% in the next 15 to 20 years it depends of course at the end of the day on the performance of the economy as a whole of course what do you have done over the years they have also managed to establish very solid funds international funds which has been able to invest and create a return on their investment that's almost making up for some of the uh collectuation in the prices of oil but I'd like to take you also into another area which is that the world cannot afford that the prices of oil stay at this level because it's an indication of the situation of the world economy and the world economy is definitely going to pick up the expectation 2016 maybe the second half 2016 we will see we will see a positive indication of pick up with economies of china and many other parts of the world and this is where of course the also the price of oil there is a a forecast that is going to increase also now maybe the next second question is where it would go and there has been my colleague the minister of energy have indicated several times that they look at $80 as the ideal price for oil as we go on for the next phase I think also the the decrease in the prices of oil over the past few months it's a chance for many other economies in the world to take advantage of this and review their economic agenda and make sure that they build a momentum toward growth this is very very important because a lot of economies part of the structure that they were facing was the high prices of oil and now there is no excuse for them not to try to make up for that in terms of providing for a new agenda to build up their economy and hence also from our side we do feel that in a way the decrease in the price of oil that actually solidify our agenda all but diversification and making sure that the effect of any future reduction in the prices of oil as we move on in the next 10 15 years is not being felt as much as it is right now thank you thank you let's go to the lady there in the umar please can you just wait for the microphone my question that your excellency is about three points first of all first of all about the reduction of oil prices is it expected as the subventions to the oil were removed that the subventions to other sectors will be removed to in in the coming years also my second question is about providing job opportunities was the economy capable of providing new job opportunities and what are your forecasts for next year and the new jobs my third question is about the SMEs and if they will get a push after the new reforms were adopted and the new law so the three questions let me write them down says the minister if there are any other sectors other than the oil will be freed or the subventions will be removed in the UAE in general we don't have subventions maybe the main sector that was that had subventions was the energy and those subventions were removed in a very smooth way and was accepted without any challenges or issues the second question was about the number of jobs in new jobs obviously the economic growth in countries in general and in the UAE expected for 2015 is between three and three and a half percent obviously this growth has consequences translated a new job opportunities we're not looking just at economic growth away from other factors for instance like the increase in the numbers of planes in the national fleets which means that there are new job opportunities for pilots also in construction we have new important infrastructure projects like the airport highways and this will create also new job opportunities in this sector so the economic cycle with an increase in growth lead naturally to an increase in job opportunities I don't have the figures but I can get you the figures the last aspect that you touched on and I can link it also to my answer to the job opportunities is that UAE indeed was able to promulgate an important law for the SMEs the first meeting for the SMEs council was held three weeks ago and we started with the implementation of an action plan for the development of the small and medium enterprises at the level of the UAE obviously locally there are funds that specialise in at the SMEs and we have the council we have a certain budget you know that we talk about 10% in addition to training to funding 10% of the development bank funding will be dedicated to the SMEs we have already started with the implementation we have the council and the program the program facilitates the SMEs and so now there's a clear orientation with a clear roadmap at the federal level and local level to have a greater contribution in the GDP from the SMEs right now the SMEs contribute 60% and we expect to increase that the international average is more than 90% we aim to reach that level that will take time obviously but we have a solid and the right basis to achieve that your question is focused on the meeting please I would also just like to add that my colleague Miroslav Dusek is here in the front row for any questions on the forum's work in this region Mirac is the head of the MENA region at the world accurate forum sir you'll be next but I'm just going to go to the lady in the back row please can you just wait for the microphone good afternoon to you my name is Alia from the from alvianus paper the recommendation and the outcome of the the global agenda will go to Daphys in Switzerland in January will the leaders listen will the world leaders take what you're going to you know all the conclusion because we have a global agenda summit every year have you tell us anything that the leaders took over the years from the conclusions and then my second question is his excellence in Missouri we're talking about the prices of oil is going down by 50% and with iranist possibility they are going back to the more oil production which that might bring the prices of all down is imposing tax is a must now rather than maybe thank you thank you no indeed you she was referencing the world economic forums annual meeting in in Davos Switzerland which will take place in january 20th and indeed having the dual responsibility the meetings I can assure you that the discussions here will definitely shape the agenda now your question is a is a more difficult one because I think what we can only do is really frame the agenda in a way that is compelling to those leaders both from industry as well as in politics to and civil society to focus on and just remind yourselves that we have for example a very important climate talks in Paris that are coming up in terms of the areas sustainability we know that there are also trade talks that will be in Nairobi this is the moment and there is the global governance mechanism that you're aware of that we're all aware of in the different summits but I think this is the moment actually interestingly enough is to focus on not just the urgent but the important because the discussions we're having regarding food security so the health in areas of for example one of the areas that we will develop a initiative around is on global health challenges infrastructure as you meant you have to have a long term vision and you're going to have to bring the different stakeholders around so yes I think that there always be and this is the case in january it's the first international meeting there will be I think very much on the forefront global priorities that are part of the new cycle and beyond but we also have to take this opportunity to really take these nine challenges and lay them out and also explore how they connect and how do we do that to your point to listen I think the first what you have to do is create an environment where it is less formal where people can be open to exchange and have a dialogue many of the political discussions around the world are not exactly dialogues they're one way or they don't involve other stakeholders so we've by design built in the other stakeholders but also create a place where it's conducive for discussion and debate because some of these problems are very difficult new adaptive challenges that will require new solutions and that will have to you know force people to to think in new innovative ways and take on some risks as leaders and that's why I think this meeting is very important because we can at least show where the opportunities are maybe reduce the risk profile of some of the options but at least present options options are very important we I don't think there's any single solution in many of these issues but if we can get the these experts here to lay out what can be really not the lowest common denominator but really the most effective and really the most in some ways innovative approaches I think we can do something and of course I hope that not only do they listen they take action on what we will discuss here when we bring the agenda forward in Davos in January thanks Lee and if I may I may just note a few areas where the councils at the individual council level are impacting here in the UAE I can think of at least four councils that are collaborating in this country the personal transport automotive working on self self-driving cars we have the the future of government council which is collaborated with the government here on on ways of making better more efficient smarter services government services there are there are a number of others so we can brief you on those after the meeting if you like if I might add that because she has another part of the question but first thing we are certainly in the UAE government both at the level of federal and also local we take into consideration all the recommendation that comes out from the summit this is actually has been utilised if you look at the issue of innovation we have adopted a strategy of innovation that came up based on recommendation of the summit we have looked at the issue of SMEs and how we can develop also a system see SMEs based on also the recommendation that we need to look at that as a government of the UAE which was discussed during so many sessions also we also looked at the issue of gender equality and what we are doing about that here in the UAE and how we can lead in the Arab world when it comes to gender equality and you see also the result of that yes the governments are listening but it depends also in each individual government leadership whether they want to make a change in their countries or not we they could be the best recommendation but if they are not willing to listen I don't think things will have be happening so this is the one be a good listener but also be a good implementer of your case there are some cases that are unique they can be addressed through these kind of recommendation and definitely there are so many different also entities that are coming willing to come and help in terms of implementing these recommendation your question was about OPEC Iran and Iran of course the production of oil from the OPEC is usually controlled under quota and that's the way it should be also eventually in order to make sure that they maintain a viable price of oil as they go on I don't think they are going to shoot themselves in the foot this is one the second was about the taxes and whether the oil prices situation would introduce taxes and I think you mean here in the UAE any decision on at GCC I mean any decision I'll take the UAE case any decision on any issue in the UAE usually there is a process of decision making in in the government we discussed this thoroughly we evaluate in terms of how it affects the economy as a whole how also it affects our competitiveness as a nation and then also we are part of the GCC and within GCC there should be a common policy when it comes to taxes and so on so this is something that I'm not saying that it's going to be now but future wise if this is something that could serve the interests of the country and the government and the people I think this is could be open just like every other nations have had also taxes which can also lead to come back in no I just want to obviously I want to just highlight one other piece which is a we are going to have a special session or here in in Abu Dhabi around the future of manufacturing a very important one when you think about in the context of the well we will will focus on in Davos on the fourth industrial revolution we are looking at its implications from a technological point of view from the economic productivity point of view from a skills and education and employment point of view it's a very important topic because we're living through it right now we're probably at its inflection point when one thinks about the the the rapid advances in the sensors and systems and even the artificial intelligence that's really permeating through factory floors around the world we need to get really a better understanding of it so we're starting here in the conversation with with really a government that is actually looking at it very seriously and actually implementing and working towards that building that manufacturing base so we're very excited about that and that's one of the many red threads that will continue on into the discussions and our annual meeting in Davos thank you Lee I think we've probably got time for two quick questions I just went here in the front row but sir did you still want to ask a question bearing in mind we're just taking questions on the meeting itself okay there's a microphone coming at you sing please remind us of your name and your outlet I'm not a job from my question is to Mr Montsourie head of the ED as part of your participation we're talking about Abu Dhabi and the trends to develop infrastructure projects airports ports and we see that Abu Dhabi has completely changed from what was 10 years ago and it knows the great growth you have strategic projects can you tell us about the progress and the directives of the visionary leadership in Abu Dhabi to promote these strategic projects the importance it gives these projects thank you for that question at the beginning of the 60s and the 70s we started building some of the infrastructure projects in the UAE as a whole and particularly in Abu Dhabi as is usual after an economic cycle of 15 to 20 years the infrastructure needs to be renovated rehabilitated and the network needs to be expanded today or rather in 2005 the government adopted a plan to modernize some of the existing infrastructure and to add new infrastructure the development or expansion included the airport some of the main highways connecting us with neighboring countries some hospitals but there are also important additions in the emirate and in the region as a whole for instance we are building museums that for the first time go out of their countries for instance the Louvre museum for the first time goes out of France and comes to the region through Abu Dhabi this is a big infrastructure project that is in addition to the country also the Cleveland hospital this is a qualitative jump and a great jump in the healthcare we're proud of the partnership we have with the USA a country that saw the importance of bringing the infrastructure and the know-how to the UAE also in the education sector we have the Sorbonne University New York University these are important infrastructure projects that have been planned what does all of this mean as his excellency the minister explained this infrastructure pushes a growth at the level of the macro economy we expect with the ministry of economy to achieve a growth rate of three and a half or maybe up to four percent we just had a discussion about all prices and his excellency was right in saying that 50 to 60 per barrel will strike a balance that can be beneficial to both parties for the consuming or all important countries and all producing countries we're talking about the current price 50 60 or up to 80 dollars that is beneficial for everybody and historically there's a strong correlation between all prices and future growth when all prices go down to 50 dollars in the long run there's a great accelerated growth in the world macro economy so all of this will be beneficial hopefully to the UAE we have to focus on the infrastructure that is needed and has an active contribution like roads health education and at the federal level as well as the emirate level this is well coordinated thank you and before we close i'd just like to offer this judgment here the front row please do you have a microphone we have a we have a website we have people watching online so it'd be we do need you to speak into the microphone thank you hamed raibh from my wazir your excellency you spoke about the importance of this summit that is held with more than 900 participants and mr alman suri said that this is the participation for the third time there are many challenges and since it's the third edition of the summit that is held here can you quickly give us some of the results that where that came from the previous summits 2014 and 2013 thank you hamed one of the main objectives of such summits is how we can use the results of these summits to incorporate them in our agendas in the UAE if we were to talk about the UAE even worldwide that the UAE has become a standard for many of the countries of the region and even worldwide at the implementation of a lot of the recommendations that come out of this summit and many other similar summits and conferences that are held in the UAE if we were to focus on one of the main recommendations that were proposed I mentioned earlier something that had to do with innovation because when we talk about innovation or interpass innovation was something strange for us but over the course of the past five years this this became something part of our culture in the UAE and was translated into a comprehensive strategy in this year 2015 what is the that is the year of innovation as announced by his highness sheikh am hamed by rashaid in line with the directors of his highness sheikh lefa binzai and president of the UAE it was clear that this trend was not only at the level of government organizations but all sectors whether public, federal, local or even private this was also transferred to education this does not come from void we do not necessarily have all the capabilities to cover all these aspects of innovation and this is why we were listening to these recommendations and we were looking at how we can implement them integrate them so that they become an integral part of our economy and a knowledge-based economy we adopted them for a certain period of time in the strategies of our institutions like the department of economic development we are working for a knowledge-based economy if you look at our vision and mission this is one aspect another aspect is the integration of the SMA sector in the national economy we've taken quick steps in that direction and we were able to promulgate a law for the SMEs an issue that showed us we were going in the right direction was equality gender equality in our society in our Arab society because this is one of the points that are usually held against us we took the example of the UAE and how it was able building on these recommendations we had started a while back but there were recommendations that showed that we are on the right track we're going in the right direction and as a society part of the world and in the UAE we know we need both genders and that the UAE women have women has have proven their success in this test for the region for all the women in the region and in the UAE the UAE is a success story in terms of gender equality these are some of the examples we also proposed a new agenda for manufacturing as was mentioned earlier we've adopted it through the ministry of economy with the world economic forum and the UNIDO looking at the orientation of manufacturing around the world and how we can through our manufacturing policy can so how we can based on all of that develop the manufacturing policy in the UAE because things have changed especially after the economy crisis and the changes that have been introduced to manufacturing so in this summit there are meetings that will be focusing solely on manufacturing and we'll see how we can come up with a number of recommendations that will be beneficial for us in the UAE thank you very much now before we close I just like to remind you my colleagues in the media that throughout the meeting we'll be having issue briefings in this room we have about 10 plans and they very much follow the the the line of our global challenges but they also follow issues and and and areas of interest that I think will be quite quite relevant here locally future of cities future of innovation we have people experts from robotics experts from brain science experts from all areas of architecture and the arts and culture so there's a very very full program of media issue briefings please do look at the press conference schedule you've all got it when you registered this morning before we close again just like to thank your excellencies for joining us here again it's been an honor to share the platform with you thank you Lee for joining us and thank you Mirek as well and thank you most importantly for yourselves for joining us here for the opening press conference of this summit