Uncertainty surrounds the future of globalization: Al Gergawi

Dubai - He stressed that the fifth edition is being hosted at a time when the world has undergone significant shifts

 His Excellency Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future and Chairman of World Government Summit said that the fifth edition of the summit (WGS 2017) fittingly articulates the vision of the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and has convened under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who has said: "The best way to build the future is to explore its opportunities and prepare for its challenges."
Speaking at the opening of the fifth edition of the World Government Summit, he stressed that the fifth edition is being hosted at a time when the world has undergone significant shifts since 2016 as evidenced in the speed of changes and the succession of surprises for any nation that does not prepare for the future.
Al Gergawi said: "The world has changed and so has our view of things. We used to look at globalization as the destiny of the humanity, but the changes we saw in 2016 impacted globalization and its future with uncertainties because of the growing trends of populism and protectionism in more than one part of the world."
He added: "We believed that the world has overrun the barriers, and cemented the values of tolerance, but we were surprised that these values are part of the variables and they are not constants. We discovered that there is no limit to the speed of movement between cities and countries, and we discovered that one day we might dispense the traditional money we use. The speed of variables was just amazing. Through the World Government Summit, we are trying to read the variables and provide answers to the questions that determine the features of our future."
He added: "Some people may feel fear and danger of the future, but not us, and not here in the world's largest event for shaping the future. The presence of senior government officials from 139 countries, as well as a large number of experts and scientists and international organizations reaffirm the fact that the region is facing a historic opportunity to shape a common vision about the future, the way we want it to be.
"The world is going through a number of transition points. Economically, we might enter a new stage of protectionism that will change the global economic landscape. Politically, we are seeing an end of large international coalitions that had established a period of economic and trade cooperation. Socially, we are seeing the rise of populism as a response to globalization. Scientifically, we are witnessing scientific revolutions that will threaten millions of jobs and may totally change the shape of our current economic systems.
"These changes are the reason why best world minds are coming together to define how technology will change the shape of government, its tools and functions, how governments can understand the extremist ideologies, their reasons and ways to eradicate them, how to shape the future of education and how its outcomes can adapt to the technological changes that are transforming traditional work and establishing a new set of skills. We are also looking at ways to discover the future of our food, how our resources will be affected by climate change and scarcity, and how to define the future of globalization and the future of governments that have been attached to the traditional form of globalization."
The World Government Summit (WGS) 2017 has drawn the participation of more than 4,000 personalities from 139 countries around the world, reflecting the leading stature of the summit on regional and international levels and the high interest from governments, global organizations, private and public sector entities, decision makers, entrepreneurs, academics and university students as well as scientists and innovators. WGS 2017 features 150 speakers across 114 sessions that highlight the world's most pressing challenges and showcase best practices and cutting-edge solutions to deal with them.