During his participation at Davos 2025, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, Minister of Sports and Chairman of UAE Space Agency Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, participated in a multilateral meeting entitled “Space: Leaving No Country Behind.”
Al Falasi’s participation at Davos 2025 comes as part of a high-level delegation from the UAE that includes more than 100 heads of companies, as well as private sector and government officials in the UAE. The delegation is headed by H.H. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. Held under the slogan “Collaboration in an Intelligent Age”, Davos 2025 runs from January 20-24.
Empowering participation in space sector
“Today, the space sector is a key driver of global progress and sustainable development. In line with our responsibility as a global community, and in light of the principle of inclusiveness and integration, we will work together to ensure the participation of all countries in this vital sector,” Al Falasi said.
Al Falasi added that the world has an exceptional opportunity to foster international partnerships in space exploration and build a sustainable and stable future for all countries to achieve a better tomorrow for humanity.
“In the UAE, we believe that cooperation, knowledge exchange and expertise are the path to achieving our goals and visions for comprehensive development. We are committed to sharing our experiences and expertise with emerging countries in the space sector to enable them to develop their capabilities and harness space potential to support their development plans,” he added.
Maximizing economic benefits of space activities
The Davos 2025 meeting aimed to bolster cooperation between local space entities and exchange views on developing effective space strategies and nurturing national ecosystems, as well as prioritizing space activities within national agendas based on challenges and lessons learned.
It also focused on providing guidance and support to emerging space entities through the National Space Program Toolkit initiative. Additionally, the meeting discussed ways to maximize the economic and technological benefits of space activities by developing effective and less costly applications.
Key participants in the meeting at Davos 2025 included Josef Aschbacher, director-general of the European Space Agency (ESA), Mohammed Altamimi, CEO of Saudi Space Agency, William Marshall, co-founder and CEO of Planet Labs, Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Martina Hirayama, state secretary for education, research and innovation of Switzerland, Jeremy Jurgens, managing director of WEF, and a number of senior officials in the field of space and technology.
The meeting was also attended by Motoyuki Arai, founder and CEO of Synspective in Japan, Hani Ashkar, senior partner at Middle East, PwC, UAE, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary-general of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), John Gedmark, CEO of Astranis in the USA, Kam Ghaffarian, founder and executive chairman of X-energy, Max Haot, CEO of Vast, Dava Newman, director of MIT Media Lab, and Bonginkosi Emmanuel “Blade” Nzimande, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of South Africa.
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UAE covers key topics at Davos 2025
The UAE’s participation at Davos 2025 covers a variety of topics, including economy, foreign trade, investment, entrepreneurship, technology, space and artificial intelligence, legislative affairs, government development, education, environment, diplomacy and others.
For the third consecutive year, the UAE is participating with a special pavilion at Davos 2025 under the slogan “Nothing is Impossible”. The slogan reflects the importance that the UAE attaches to this significant forum. The forum will the the attendance of several officials, heads of major local companies, officials in the public and private sectors and a number of experts, specialists and owners of successful and inspiring international organizations.
