Peeta Planet brothers to attend world development summit in NYC

The Emirati travelling duo behind the show Peeta Planet are to moderate a Cities as Labs of Innovation panel this week at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York.

Actor Matt Damon laughs with Peyman Al Awadhi, the co-founder of Peeta Planet, while speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative in New YorkKevin Lamarque  / Reuters
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ABU DHABI // Two globe-trotting Emirati brothers are representing the UAE at a conference organised by the Clinton family in the US.

Mohammed and Peyman Al Awadhi, the executive producers and co-hosts of the travel show Peeta Planet, are leading a panel at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York.

More than 1,000 business, government, civil and philanthropic leaders are attending the meeting, which began on Sunday and ends tomorrow.

The Al Awadhi brothers are leading the Cities as Labs of Innovation panel, whose participants include actor Matt Damon, also the co-founder of Water.org, a non-profit organisation that provides access to safe water and sanitation.

Others attending include King Abdullah II of Jordan, Fadi Ghandour, the founder of Aramex, and Reem Al Hashimi, Minister of State and managing director of the Dubai World Expo 2020 Bid Committee.

The theme of the brothers’ talk is very fitting, they said.

“Thinking about cities as labs for innovation is a perfect backdrop for us.

“Cities can transform societies to become hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship, and inspire change.”

The panel will discuss ways to help cities become more inventive – in order to drive business and economic growth – as well as how to replicate their success globally.

The Al Awadhi brothers’ “social travel” series on Dubai One, a venture of their production group Qabeela New Media, attracts 50 million viewers in the region and involves thousands of their social-media followers in planning their itineraries and choosing their destinations.

The show has featured countries including Turkey, Ireland, Singapore, the US, India, Mexico, the Philippines and Brazil, with the brothers interviewing individuals and organisations in 24 cities.

The meeting is being held under the theme “Reimagining Impact” and speakers include former US president Bill Clinton, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and the US president Barack Obama.

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