 Well, good afternoon everybody. Welcome to our first issue briefing of the 8th Summit on the Global Agenda. Very delighted that you'll be joining us. I'd also like to warmly welcome our audience watching us live on weforum.org. It's the first of a packed schedule of this afternoon of issue briefings. The purpose of these, of course, is to bring some of the expertise, knowledge and frankly interrelational brilliance of the people gathered here in Abu Dhabi and put them in the space here in the media briefing centre where we can pose them questions and hopefully elitism, interesting responses on some of the critical cutting issues and challenges of the day. We're going to take a time honoured path here. We'll invite our panellists here to say a few words. There will also be time for questions from the floor. We've also had questions coming in from social media this morning, so we have a list here to keep us entertained for the next half hour. I'm going to waste no more time, frankly, because we haven't got a lot of it and we've got a lot of things to talk about. So first of all, I'd love to introduce my first panellist, Hassan Hasbani, chief executive officer of Greycoats Lebanon. Hassan, I'm going to ask you just to give us a bit of a brief overview on prospects for the region. Basically, let's think of the region as three subregions. You've got the GCC part of it, you've got the North African Arab world and the Eastern Mediterranean part or the Levant part. If we look at the prospects for this part, the GCC, where we are right now today, given the lower oil prices and the current global situation, this is the great incentive for this part of the world to start focusing and putting a higher priority on diversifying the economies, because as long as oil prices are high, you know, there's a lot of talk about economic diversification, but very kind of timid action. While right now it's a great opportunity to put this at the top of the agenda. Let's not forget that the growth is still in the vicinity of 3.6% on a GDP level and kind of aggregated across the GCC region, which, compared to the situation around the world, is still a fairly good growth. Reform is taking place around governance, around encouraging investments in the private sectors, more medium enterprises and encouraging foreign direct investments. All of this will also be supported and helped by lower oil prices to prioritise. The North African part of this world also sits on good significant reserves of oil and gas and has a good potential when and if oil prices go up. Also, the reforms that have taken place after post-revolutions are starting to show effect and results. So I would say they're not at an advanced level of reform, but at the starting point of structural reforms, economic, political and social, which will create ample opportunity for investments and growth in the future, not forgetting the significant growth in the population in that part of the world, particularly on the youth side. In the Levant, again, the recent discoveries of gas in the Eastern Mediterranean coupled with a high level of mathematical and scientific education quality as per the global competitiveness ranking, for example Lebanon ranks number five in the world in terms of mathematical and scientific education. So that part of the world tends to be effectively the main supply of talent and capabilities for the region. It is still going through a major turmoil, particularly the conflict in Syria, which will take a bit of time. But again post conflict and once stability starts coming back on the governance structure and the reforms that could take place in that part, midterm the prospects are quite significant in terms of rebuilding the infrastructure, in terms of developing the private sector and in terms of readiness for these markets to open for foreign direct investments through liberalisation, which had already started pre-conflict, but was kind of stopped due to the instability that was created. It will come back to the picture later on. Lots of issues they will come back to. First of all, let's get to our second guest, Azita Berra-Award. You're the director of employment policy international labour organisation in Geneva and you're a member of our meta-cancel on inclusive growth. Now of course we've just published a report, forgive the plug, on inclusive growth. It's not about growth, it's about the right kind of growth. Has this region got the message? I think that we want to focus on some of the structural issues that have been there at a time the growth was higher and including now it should be on top of the policy agenda. I would like to mention three trends that are very important. Even though before this recent wave of global economic slowdown and regional factors that were mentioned a while ago, while the growth is still good but not as good as it used to be, this is a type of growth that has not been generating jobs, not enough jobs and not enough jobs of good quality. Youth unemployment is the highest in this region. We just released two weeks ago our latest global employment trends for the world and we found out that while globally unemployment has come among youth, has come slightly down compared to where it used to be at the peak of the crisis, in this region North Africa and Middle East it has gone up. So that is a tremendous increase and it is year after year in our reports highest among all regions. So what we want to focus on is that the same level of growth can generate different results. It has to do with the patterns of growth but it has to do with also how do you use the benefits of growth. So it is a question of really focusing on job creating policy, policies that support transformation of the economy, structural change, investment in job creating but also that's another angle that I want to emphasise the quality of jobs from a social protection point of view. Again it's a region that has the means to do more on social protection whether we are talking about compensation to labour, whether we are talking about access to health insurance, whether we are talking about pensions. Again let me give another figure, two thirds of those who are working do not have access to health insurance or pension system. So the question here is this we should not be focusing on these issues because they are good for inclusive societies but these hamper contribution to further growth. So investing in social protection, investing in job creation is good for growth. So the dichotomy that's growth should come first and then we distribute is not there. So I would really say that the two aspects of job creation in particular for tackling the structural issues of high youth unemployment or let me put it vulnerable employment is very important. And the second thing is that a virtuous cycle of investing in social transfers and social protection is within the means of this region. Thank you and again let's come back to that but first let's talk to our third guest here, Mohamed Alesis, Associate Dean, the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the American University in Cairo. We just heard about youth unemployment, we've heard some optimistic views on the prospects of the region. What can we do about it? What can we what can we what have you seen recently that that gives you some idea that we could actually have a greater future for unemployment? So youth unemployment for the region is not a business cycle issue. It's very important to understand what it is. It's a structural disconnect between the educational system and the economy and where the economy is headed. Resolving it doesn't happen on the margin and on the side of growth. Resolving it needs a serious focus in building your growth agenda to address these issues. So the region happens to have the biggest percent of youth in the world. 75 percent of Arabs are below 30 years old. Few years ago here at the weft we talked about the golden number of 100 million jobs that need to be created over the next 10 years to keep this very high unemployment level from even going higher and you know from what we just heard we're not doing a great job there. So what we need to do is number one we need to stop thinking about it as a business cycle issue that we must resolve through short-term solutions and we need to start thinking about what it takes to resolve it. Our educational system here in the region need to be revamped completely. Some of the countries in this region are performing among the worst worldwide when it comes to elementary education. There are smart interventions using modern technology such as massive open online courses. The Queen Rhynia of Jordan's Iraq initiative to try to utilize modern technology to bring education to the forefront of youth in the region is a good example. We need more of that and we need more of that targeted at elementary levels and at young age for these youth. We need to reconsider how our access to finance is done in the region to lower the barriers to entry to allow more of these youth who have creative ideas for entrepreneurship to be able to access this financing opportunities to grow their businesses develop it and make the most out of it. We need to reconsider how property rights are distributed in the region to protect these most at risk when it comes to employment to protect their investments. We need to rethink how the interaction between the informal sector which is massive. It's not a minor economy. It's some measures put it at in some of the biggest countries of Egypt in addition to Libya and Tunisia at roughly 85% of internet brews are functioning extra legally beyond any legal registration of protection. Therefore they don't have access to capital they can grow they're stuck in this loop. So we require a whole structural reformulation of how we approach our growth agenda. Let's not forget that some of these countries in the region Egypt for example was growing at 8% before the revolution. The issue is not growth. The issue is the correct type of growth that creates the correct type of jobs for the modern digital economy we live in. Digital, a perfect segue to talk about the fourth industrial revolution we've been hearing about. But first let's see if there are any questions from the floor. Okay, well let's dive right in there. Were you afraid, alarmed, optimistic, overjoyed by Professor Schwab's comments and all the examples he gave of technology tipping points, robots in the pharmacy, 3D printing coming down, coming our way, brain research and do you think the region will be left behind by this or do you think it with the right kind of interventions now it could be a viable player in this new ecosystem? Can I just take on, when we are talking about the digital economy we are maybe focusing too much exclusively on the robotics and what this may imply for jobs in the future which is an important aspect of the whole thing. But let's also talk about the revolution that mobile phones brought and in terms of social inclusion you have lots of good practices and not from developing countries emerging economies from Africa where it shows that how mobile phones can be used for financial inclusion for access and outreach to rural areas. So we should also look at the opportunities the digital economy can bring to the issue of growth and inclusive growth and I would write an angle of access to opportunities and access to finance and others and I think that an issue that was highlighted the informal economy, the extent of informal economy that is very important to find unconventional outreach mechanisms and digital economy is one way of and I think that the potential is underutilised how we can make digital economy work for inclusive paths. You've made for comments, Mohammed first. As I mentioned we are a very young region so theoretically speaking this population should be very ready to adapt and adjust to a new digital economy. With a little bit of investment I mean we live in a world where to get a tablet now cost less than 50 bucks when the dream to get a laptop few years ago was the hundred dollar project and it was seen as outrageous so access to technology the pricing of it is dropping. Governments should really be at the forefront of distributing this technology in the hands of this young population who knows how to break through it to make the most out of it. So in a way for many regions the digital economy could be seen as a threat for me I hope I really hope building on the comments that were just said that for this region it should be part of the solution because of the young population that grew up with this technology and for them it's not a new revolution it's part of their daily drive and they know how to function with it and they know how to unleash its potential with a little bit of support that I think private sector and the government should be be able to provide so I'm seeing it as part of the solution more so than the problem frankly for this region. It has had as a business leader how well has the digital economy worked its way into the mainstream economy? We're still in the early stages in this part of the world and in many places in the world I believe the first step was connectivity and I think over the last three decades we have managed to create enough connections on networks and the spread of the internet through mobility particularly that enabled the inclusion of of pretty much the entire world population into one network or another in one way or another. The challenge now is to be able to move to the next step to actually start using that not just for communication and connectivity but for transforming the economy and society altogether and this is what Professor Shaw was effectively eluding in his speech today. I think the era of robotics and artificial intelligence and 3D printing is certainly coming the question is when will it reach the mass adoption that mobility has reached is probably a different debate point but what will certainly it will certainly do it's exactly what computers did when mainframe computers were exclusive to very large organizations and placed in central locations the PC came and democratized the use of technology and and brought those corporate capabilities to the individual. The same is now happening at a slightly higher logical level with digital applications and 3D printing is one example if 3D printing well in my view it will probably end up bringing manufacturing to a more democratized level it won't be manufacturing of the future will not be exclusive to large corporations and big factories manufacturing will become accessible to individuals to smaller groups small enterprises that is a revolution by itself obviously in the medical field diagnosis DNA testing and the combination with big data will also progress the the longevity of individuals with high productivity now that's still probably a bit far off what we're still challenged with in this part of the world again I would divide the region into two or three sub regions in some places like the Gulf you have an advanced usage of technology in governments in fact the top two countries in the world in terms of government usage of technology are in the Gulf region but in North Africa and the Levant were still way behind in that sense individuals use technology more than their governments and there's a long long way to go in terms of adoption which I totally agree will bring social inclusion and participative growth in kind of the socially responsible free market economy so there's a lot of work to be done first on legislation a government legislation as well as technology utilization legislation there's a lot to be done on liberalising the markets both in the Gulf and the rest of the Middle East region to attract foreign direct investment and multinational capabilities in deploying infrastructure and deploying digital applications and investing in the digital economy which will then ultimately encourage entrepreneurship in this area given the talent that exists in this part of the world Egypt Lebanon Jordan are basically centers of excellence for production on the digital side and the advancement of digital technology utilization in the Gulf will all complement each other if the right kind of legislative frameworks are in place regulatory frameworks and foreign direct investment is attracted in this field so that the region doesn't miss the digital revolution in or the digital industrial revolution the way it actually missed the physical industrial revolution in the past a really good point and we look at the competitors report of course we look at news stories and we we read about infrastructure projects being used to kickstart industrial growth and development and create jobs are we getting the balance right here obviously the basic drivers of competitive needs needs to be paid regard to but what do you think Mohammed are we getting the balance right between prioritizing how we how we drive growth and get the right kind of growth as Azit says governments all over the world but specifically in this region fancy large mega projects they're they're easier to to to force through the pipeline they're easier to achieve they're easier to measure success but unfortunately this is not what this era desires you know we're in a world where an app few or or or several hundred lines of code can be valued worth you know hundreds of millions of of of dollars and generate revenue and generate jobs and advertisement and and and really kickstart an economy but show me one of the education systems that that have actually decided to teach programming teach coding instead we're stuck in education system that teach issues that are really not fit for this era and age and and and you know we just heard about the democratization of the of the process well if you can write codes that are worth really monetizing then shouldn't our whole education agenda be caring to that shouldn't governments be considering reformulating their approach to investment to education to address that it takes a mentality shift and some countries have been have been more successful than others in the region at it but here I look really to to to to to partnerships uh from civil society from businesses um the the governments of of many parts of the arab world and the rest of the world are simply overwhelmed by the demographic bulge they're facing they're simply trying to absorb the massive numbers that are entering schools most of their budgets if you know they're dwindling as is but most of their budgets are going to brick and mortar projects for for for just absorbing these numbers but here are the there are opportunities for for private sector let's take the refugee situation this is a win win win from corporate social responsibility for businesses to start introducing coding at very low cost to refugees to to to give them a brighter future rather than them being stuck in this dead end therein it's very low cost it's effective it gives hope it might revitalize the region I'm looking here really at not only at governments I'm looking at the private sector I'm looking at uh everybody really to start thinking out of the box when it comes to preparing the region for the coming few decades and to to to to stop thinking the old mentality of mega projects we need infrastructure investments but we need infrastructure investments in in in in in a digital soft coding way as well Oliver soft infrastructure as well as hard infrastructure as ita we have precious little time left but give us your your priority what would you most like to see achieved in the next 12 months let me go to what is the mantra of this GAC summit and that is public private corporation and I want to emphasize that in the MENA region public private corporation actually is highly underutilized and there is a big potential to go in a systematic way and I will want to give three concrete examples one the percentage of public budget which is invested in research and development manufacturing economic transformation to really have those kinds of research and development embedded in the economies rather than imported I think there is a huge potential there and that is about public budget encouraging industry based research and development I think that's one element the second very concrete example and joins what we were saying about the education system it's a systematic approach to bringing the world of education and the world of labour markets together in designing some of the some parts of the curricula in having the training and skill system produce for the labour market needs but not immediate needs also future outlook and let me give an example that has been tried and tested in many countries the apprenticeship system quality apprenticeship systems where it is the investment is done by mainly employers the private sector the public authorities put the regulating framework and obviously the rights of young people because these are young people employed together with school based training that gives results immediately and it is not an investment for social CSR type of issues but it is an investment because it brings back profit and money for the private sector but it has to be structured it has it is not just a project one one scheme and there have been several wrong startups on this in the region but that is a huge potential for private public cooperation and the third concrete example I want to give is also the issue of SMEs and informal economy there too there is a big scope of encouraging transition to formal economy but from both aspects of improving the productivity improving their access to financial inclusion and there is an agenda both for public policies but also the private sector to have a more level playing field for small medium enterprises and there the big firms or companies have a major role and change of mindset to operate to include or to see as part of there the private sector development this level playing field for medium small and medium economy has a very briefly what's your what's on your wish list for 2016 my on my wish list is for each country in the region to put as a top priority its reform agenda item with the objective of regaining or building the trust of the public in the government by taking concrete rather than populist actions concrete actions to stabilize if it's a country that has instability to create more transparency embrace openness to international trade and foreign direct investments which I believe will be the largest sources of economic stability and capabilities development in terms of training and talent development as well as job creation so and these in my view are extremely important and immediate priorities that should be put on the decision makers agenda thank you all so it's a busy year ahead we've run out of time which is a shame because we could have gone for much longer but that's the nature of this meeting everybody's got places to be very very soon thank you all for joining us here today here in the media briefing centre also thank you for watching online thank you very much indeed for joining us on the panel here it's been a great pleasure thank you this session is now over