As part of the World Government Summit 2022, the Investopia summit kicked off today, featuring over 90 speakers and 1,000 participants made up of decision-makers, investors, experts, and innovators from the UAE and the world, to discuss ideas, opportunities, and future investments all over the world.
Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, stated, “Investopia aims to facilitate the global dialogue, to formulate innovative partnership models and schemes that will generate future investment opportunities, which will help create a new global ecosystem and lay down the foundations for responsible and sustainable future economies. With Investopia, we are setting a different tone and changing the global investment behavior to not only focus on the economics but also the human, social and environmental aspects.”
Bin Touq stressed that the summit embodies the UAE’s futuristic vision, constituting a main pillar in the country’s march toward building its future economy based on employing the latest technologies in all pivotal sectors.
Comprehensive economic strategies that keep pace with challenges
The first session, entitled “From Now to new: the global investment outlook 2025”, hosted Spirydon-Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Development and Investment of Greece; Rebeca Grynspan, Director-General of UNCTAD; and Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner, SkyBridge Capital.
Rebeca Grynspan highlighted the importance of governments adopting comprehensive economic strategies that keep pace with challenges and investment requirements in the short- and long-term.
She painted a big picture of what’s required and possible for investments now and in the future, “You need to enhance investment in infrastructure, in digital transformation, in climate change, and we need private-public partnerships to be able to do that.”
Design of creative industries
Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi participated in a session, entitled “Not a luxury: investing in the creative industries”, speaking alongside Alain Bejjani, CEO, Majd Al Futtaim, Elie Habib, Co-Founder and CTO, Anghami; Patrick Chalhoub, CEO, Chalhoub Group; Sophie Watts, Founder, and Executive Chairperson, Metacurio. The session was moderated by Rachel Pether, Senior Advisor, SkyBridge.
Future visions of global investment leaders
Khaldoon Mubarak, CEO, Mubadala, and Larry Fink, CEO, of Blackrock, participated in the “The long view: lessons from investment leaders” session moderated by John Defterios. The session highlighted the change in the global investment scene, in light of the rapid changes during the recent period.
The UAE Investment Outlook
“The UAE Investment Outlook: 50 Years Ahead” session hosted Mohammed Al Shorafa, and Helal Al Marri, where they highlighted the importance of the initiatives and programs of the UAE during the next 50 years.
The panels explored concepts such as the metaverse and the investment opportunities it presents, the necessity of leadership in climate change and investments to address our climate challenge, agri-tech solutions to address food supply chain challenges, and much more.
Investopia has a wide network of local and global partners, including the global cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com, Deloitte Middle East, Accenture Middle East, BlackRock, and a number of partners from the private sector, along with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, and the Sharjah Foreign Direct Investment Office (Invest in Sharjah).
The role of women in the future economy
The “Leaders of Investment and Change” session reviewed the importance of the role of women in the future economy and the need to empower female investors to become financiers of entrepreneurs and small companies, and leaders of venture capital funds, and to encourage more women to engage in the investment and economic sectors.
The session was attended by Franny Leuter, CEO, Southbridge Investments, Rola Abu Menna, CEO of Standard Chartered Emirates, Elissar Farah Antonios, CEO of the Middle East and North Africa region, Citigroup, and Amanda Bollinger, CEO of 100 Women in the Middle East. Funding, and managed by Fadi Ghandour, founder of Wamda Capital.
Health technology employment opportunities
The participants in the “From Healthcare to Health Technology” session also discussed the pivotal role of technological development in endeavors to improve the health of societies, increase the ease of access to healthcare services worldwide, and benefit from the advancement of science and technology to enjoy a healthier and longer life.
The future of finance
The participants in the “Sustainable Finance Leading the Global Transformation” session discussed the latest trends that shape the future of sustainable finance and green investment, and ways to develop new sectors and growth opportunities that provide more opportunities for small, medium, and emerging companies and entrepreneurs, and build a responsible and sustainable future economy.
Farming technology
The session “From Agriculture to Agricultural Technology” discussed the importance of adopting the latest innovative practices in the field of food security, developing agricultural food systems, developing crop storage operations, and developing applications of geoengineering and biotechnology in transforming the desert into fertile land and green infrastructure.
The Investopia Summit also discussed the future of many other economic sectors, such as the impact of the “Metaverse” on the future of investments in the world and the opportunities it provides, the importance of leadership in the field of climate change, and investments to enable dealing with climate challenges, and the solutions provided by agricultural technology to meet the challenges in a chain Supply to Food.
