World Government Summit Kicks Off in Dubai with Focus on Artificial Intelligence

The global summit for governments in 2024, themed “Envisioning the Governments of the Future,” kicked off today and will continue until February 14th in Dubai, with the participation of over 25 heads of state and government.

The new version of the summit discusses future opportunities and challenges, as well as the major issues that the world is currently facing. It also explores ways to achieve shared visions for improving government work and strengthening cooperation between governments worldwide.

Additionally, it emphasizes the exchange of experiences and focuses on inspiring stories and successful models of government work that have had positive impacts and brought about real change in their countries and societies.

The Global Summit for Governments will bring together 120 government delegations, over 85 international and regional organizations, global institutions, as well as a select group of world leaders, intellectuals, and experts.

The event will be attended by more than 4,000 participants.

Mohammed Al-Qarqawi, Minister of Affairs of the Council of Ministers and President of the World Summit on Governments, estimated that the conflicts, disputes, and violence around the world cost approximately $17 trillion annually.

He further explained that if only 6% of this cost were to be utilized, it would be possible to cover the expenses of the most significant humanitarian challenges faced in one year, such as eliminating hunger, illiteracy, treating cancer, and providing clean water.

He mentioned in his opening speech at the summit that poverty rates are continuously declining worldwide, as the number of impoverished countries has been cut in half in just 20 years. He added, “We are living in a human era that is the best and most prosperous, healthy, and secure,” while emphasizing that governments need to take a moment to prioritize their actions.

He affirmed that clear changes in international trade signal a decline in globalization, which could cost up to 7 percent of the world’s GDP. These changes manifest in rising inflation, labor shortage, and the crumbling of the global financial system.

He added, “Artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword, as the number of deepfake videos in 2023 has tripled compared to the previous year, and half a million fake content has spread in our digital space in our last year. Therefore, media deception will be one of the biggest challenges facing humanity.”

He indicated that the compass of the global economy is heading east, as 50 percent of global growth comes from China and India. He added that China has surpassed the United States in the number of patents in the field of artificial intelligence and investment in clean energy, and that India has the largest number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduates in the world.

He pointed out that the learning ability of artificial intelligence has multiplied by 1,000 times in just one year, and it is expected to undertake 70 percent of tasks in various sectors.

In its new session, the World Summit for Governments includes 6 main axes and 15 global forums that discuss major global trends and future transformations in over 110 main dialogical and interactive sessions.

These sessions will feature the participation of 200 international figures including presidents, ministers, experts, thinkers, and future-makers. In addition, more than 23 ministerial meetings and an executive session will be held with the presence of over 300 ministers.

The Global Summit of Governments witnesses the participation of several heads of governments, including Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, who speaks during a key session as the guest of honor of the summit.

Mustafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt, delivers a keynote speech during the first day of the summit. The first day of the summit also sees the participation of Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, and Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister of Cuba, as well as Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in main sessions of the event.

(wam)