Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, Mubarak bin Ajlan Al Kuwari, and Jassim Mohamed Al Khori during the press conference held, yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: Qatar Economic Forum (QEF 2024), aims to bring together over 1,000 leaders from around the globe to engage in discussions pivotal to the current economic environment.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Chairperson of the Permanent Supreme Committee organising the Qatar Economic Forum, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani said, under the gracious patronage of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the fourth edition of the forum will be held on Tuesday under the slogan ‘A World Remade: Navigating the Year of Uncertainty’ in cooperation with Bloomberg.
The fourth edition of the forum, scheduled for May 14-16, will cover current global issues and focus on topics related to geopolitics, globalisation, trade, energy transformation, technological innovation, business foresight, investment, sports and entertainment; considering the continuing effects of major changes in the fields of technology, energy, trade and politics that the world is witnessing.
Sheikh Ali noted that what distinguishes this year's forum is the signing of 20 memoranda of understanding during the forum, including 18 international MoUs between international or international and local entities compared to 10 MoUs signed in the previous edition. There has also been an increase in forum sponsorship requests this year, with the number of official sponsors rising from four last year to 16 in this year.
The Qatar Economic Forum is considered the fastest-growing forum in the world and in the region in terms of participants and attendance. Statistics so far indicate the possibility of 2,300 international attendees and 1,300 local attendees, all of whom are thought leaders, CEOs, and executives of major institutions. The number of speakers has reached 1,120, and there are 200 media outlets, mostly from outside the country.
The sessions will be divided into main sessions and side sessions, with approximately 30 sessions featuring around 120 speakers, mostly global thought leaders and CEOs of major international companies. These sessions are designed to be effective, providing outputs that meet the forum's needs and goals.
He further said, one of the key success factors for the forum this year, as every year, is the support of local entities in terms of inviting participants and guests to participate in the sessions. “Leveraging our unprecedented conference organisation experience, attending Qatar Economic Forum activities will be through personal invitations, given the large attendance requests that exceeded all expectations.”
The organising committee has taken a number of measures to ensure the attendance of the largest number of those wishing through digital platforms. “We have provided various platforms for viewing session broadcasts, including on Bloomberg's platforms and local channels. Additionally, the Media City has provided live broadcasting in Doha Design District,” he added.
Speaking about how forum will showcase Qatar’s investment opportunities in sectors like technology, finance, tourism and logistics and what specific initiatives will be highlighted to attract foreign direct investment, Sheikh Ali said, The tangible evidence of this diversification is something we live on daily basis as we see around us but in the forum this reflection will be done through the speakers.
“We have a very high level participation delegations and engagement from local stakeholders. There is also the nature of the partnerships and MoU’s that are going to be signed indicates the direction that entities are moving towards to enhance the foreign direct investment and additional investment to the country.”
Executive Director of the Permanent Committee for Organizing Conferences at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Logistics Team in the Supreme Permanent Committee organising the Qatar Economic Forum, Mubarak bin Ajlan Al Kuwari said, The registration process has been unified and facilitated through a unified system and issuing entry cards to all participants, to ensure smooth and quick entry to the forum, in addition to providing tourism programmes in cooperation with Qatar Tourism and Qatar Museums.
Media City Qatar CEO Jassim Mohamed Al Khori and Head of the media team in the Permanent Supreme Committee organising the Qatar Economic Forum praised the strategic partnership with Bloomberg for several years. “We will provide live broadcast through Doha Design in Msheireb , and this is an open invitation for everyone to attend and experience the event with us for three days,” he added.
Speaking to The Peninsula Al Khouri said, Media City Qatar is a proud sponsor of Bloomberg Live and Bloomberg Media. We have been in this successful partnership together for the past four years. This is the fourth iteration of the Qatar Economic Forum Powered by Bloomberg.
“We have been crucial in supporting Qatar to become a hub for global and major economic and media related activities. We will be hosting more than 2,300 people from all over the globe, from more than 50 countries. More than 20 memoranda of understanding will be signed from international and this is going to position us in a great way within the economic and geopolitical map of the globe.
Commenting on new features this year, he noted that “We have dedicated the last day of the forum to touch upon a very important component which is innovation and technology. This year we have looked into where the technology is heading and are bringing a pool of global experts from technology, innovation and entrepreneurship,” he added.
