High-level officials, policy makers and experts will gather this month in Abu Dhabi for in-depth discussions on the most pressing issues and opportunities awaiting the region over the next decade.
Participants at the Beirut Institute Summit Abu Dhabi edition III are scheduled to include Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, GCC Secretary General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani, German Foreign Office Director for Relations with the Middle East and North Africa, Ambassador Philipp Ackermann and former CIA Director and chairman of KKR Global Institute, General David Petraeus.
As 2019 draws to a close "and a new decade beckons for our Arab region, it's incumbent on us to delve deeper into our situation and aspirations", said Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki Al Faisal.
Prince Turki, who is a former head of intelligence and has served as Ambassador to both London and Washington, is a member of Beirut Institute’s board of directors.
Raghida Dergham, the founder and executive chairwoman of Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National, said that "the Arab region currently stands at a crossroads requiring it to keep up with geopolitical transformations and economic and social changes, and achieve the technological progress anticipated for the 2020s. These matters will be discussed in depth."
The summit will also feature the region's young talent such as Nada Debs, the Lebanese-Canadian designer.
The two-day, invitation only, event begins on Sunday October 13.
