Dubai To Host 700 Of The World’s Most Influential Leaders From Academia, Business, Government And Society At First World Economic Forum Summit On The Global Agenda

• The inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda, held in partnership with the Government of Dubai, will take place in Dubai from 7 to 9 November
• World’s 700 foremost thinkers will move to advance knowledge on the most critical challenges
• For more information on the Summit and the Network of Global Agenda Councils, visit www.weforum.org/gac

Geneva, Switzerland – The World Economic Forum, in partnership with the Government of Dubai, will hold its inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai from 7 to 9 November 2008. The Summit is a new, unique gathering of the world’s 700 most innovative and relevant minds – leaders from academia, business, government and society. In Dubai, Members of the Forum’s Network of Global Agenda Councils will share ideas and collaboratively address some of the most pressing issues on the global agenda.

During the three-day Summit, the 700 participants of this interdisciplinary event will engage in interactive workshops and sessions to set priorities for the most compelling ideas for improving the state of the world – from groundbreaking areas of research to new and exciting developments to address the world’s challenges. The outcomes will be presented at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 for further discussion and action. There will be 68 Global Agenda Councils represented at the Summit, addressing the following issues:

Global Challenges: Demographic Shifts; Migration; Urban Management; Gender Gap; Skills Gap; Climate Change; Alternative Energies; Water Security; Biodiversity and Ecosystem Degradation; Mitigation of Natural Disasters; Food Security; Economic Imbalances; Systemic Financial Risk; Global Trade Regime; Global Capital Flows; Financial Empowerment; Economic Growth and Development; Trade Facilitation; Global Governance; Energy Security; Corruption; Illicit Trade; Terrorism; Proliferation and Weapons of Mass Destruction; Corporate Governance; Humanitarian Assistance; Fragile States; International Legal System; Welfare of Children; Technology and Education; Healthcare Systems; HIV/AIDS; Challenges of Gerontology; Pandemics; Chronic Diseases and Malnutrition; Challenges of Nanotechnology; Human Equality and Respect; Islam-West Dialogue; Negotiation and Conflict Resolution; Empowering Youth

Industry-oriented: Future of Mobility; Future of Media; Future of Entertainment; Future of the Internet; Future of Mobile Communications; Future of Metals and Mining; Future of Sustainable Construction; Future of Real Estate

Regional/Country-oriented: Future of Africa; Future of Latin America; Future of the Middle East; Future of China; Future of Russia; Future of Japan; Future of Australia; Future of Korea

Expertise Councils: Design; Marketing and Branding; Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Social Investing; Benchmarking Progress in Society; Emerging Multinationals; Financial Markets Development; Future of Governments; Sports in Society; Geography of Innovation; Strategic Foresight; Diversity; Social Entrepreneurship

Global Agenda Councils
To further its mission and strategic vision, the World Economic Forum has created the Global Agenda Councils, which are multistakeholder groups of the most innovative and relevant minds, for the purpose of advancing knowledge and collaboratively exploring actions to the most important issues in the global arena.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests (http://www.weforum.org).