Program

A new era of hope and opportunity is emerging in the Middle East, despite the unprecedented challenges during the past 12 months. Three key drivers that will define the next period are:

1.Peace dividends: The region experienced a decisive and historic shift when both the UAE and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords with Israel and the United States last September, the first public normalization of relations between an Arab country and Israel since that of Jordan in 1994. Additionally, the conflict zones in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen are moving towards a rapprochement

2. Opportunity in Climate Change: While the oil & gas sector will continue to be an important contributor to the region’s economy, efforts to decarbonise the industry, and power & water generation particularly, are gathering pace

3. Global Events and focus on domestic investments: The region is preparing to host several global events, such as Expo 2020 in Dubai, the World Bank-IMF Meetings in Marrakech next year, and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, in addition to the region’s leading Sovereign Wealth Funds focusing on massive domestic infrastructure projects.

The Middle East will occupy an increasingly important role in the global economic and political discourse, and it is incumbent upon the PR sector to help convey the new narrative which calls for a new Manifesto for Change. To discuss this interesting subject we have a range of expert speakers for this opening panel.