At the opening session, senior officials of the United Arab Emirates, the host government since the first Summit in 2008, told over 1,000 business, government and civil society leaders that the only way to tackle difficult global problems is through cooperation across countries, sectors and stakeholders.

“The solutions to the most pressing concerns in the world lie in partnerships,” said HE Sultan Saeed Nasser Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, adding that “we need coordinated movements.” HE Nasser Ahmed AlSowaidi, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) agreed. 

He said: “In uncertain times such as these, the need for greater international cooperation is magnified. Complex questions require coordinated solutions.”

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, noted that governments, business and civil society working alone cannot address today’s complex challenges. Existing institutions and mechanisms of international cooperation are unable to shape viable solutions, he observed. 

“The biggest challenge we have today is the incapability of the system of global governance to take the necessary time and devote the necessary attention to construct our future,” Schwab argued. “We are much too much in a crisis management mode. We have to take a holistic view. We cannot find solutions in departmentalized approaches.”

Among the international experts participating in the three-day Summit, which Abu Dhabi is hosting for the second time, will be Members of the World Economic Forum’s Network of 86 Global Agenda Councils. The purpose of the Summit is to tap the knowledge and experience of Council Members and other participants to generate insights, ideas and effective and sustainable action plans to address the main risks on the global agenda.

Image: Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, Sultan Saeed Nasser Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates; Co-Chair of the Summit on the Global Agenda and Nasser Ahmed AlSowaidi, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), United Arab Emirates at the World Economic Forum, Summit on the Global Agenda in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 2013. Image by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell