December 19, 2018
Abu Dhabi: Al Khaleej
The first Arab Digital Economy Conference concluded on Monday evening. It was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, with distinguished Arab, regional, and international participation.
At the conclusion of the sessions, the organizing committee announced the conference’s recommendations and closing statement, which began with the Arab League’s thanks to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, for his support and sponsorship of the shared Arab vision for the digital economy.
It also thanked Lieutenant General His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, for his continuous efforts in supporting such Arab initiatives and for his honor of opening the conference.
The Enormity of the Challenges
The organizing committee stated that choosing the Arab digital economy as the central issue of the shared Arab vision reflects the extent of awareness of the magnitude of the challenges facing the Arab region, given the pivotal role of modern technology in developing societies and economies in general. We also believe that investing in the digital economy is our way to enhance social, economic, and political stability in Arab countries.
Recommendations
The committee presented the recommendations resulting from this conference, including that the digital economy could contribute more than $3 trillion to the growth of the Arab GDP. Therefore, the importance of adopting an Arab digital economy vision for the growth opportunities of Arab countries’ GDP is directly linked to population growth in the Arab region and to the goals of improving the economic and social conditions of Arab peoples. Currently, the digital contribution to the economies of Arab countries does not exceed 4%, compared to 22% globally. In its closing statement, delivered by Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed Al-Rabee, Secretary-General of the Council of Arab Economic Unity at the League of Arab States, the conference emphasized the importance of establishing laws and legislation regulating the digital economy and policies that regulate technological progress and digital transformation to ensure inclusion of all Arab countries. It also emphasized the formulation of flexible policies related to the components of the Arab digital economy, including technological infrastructure, related policies and legislation, governance, digital skills, financing, and inter- and global capital.
Main Topics
The recommendations indicated the need to focus on the main topics of the strategy, namely digital infrastructure, digital innovation, digital governments, digital trade, and digital citizens, to ensure the achievement of the 17 global sustainable development goals in various fields and sectors. It also emphasized harnessing all efforts to ensure a strong start to the shared Arab vision for the digital economy by identifying which countries to start from and the mechanism for quickly transferring and sharing successful models among Arab countries. It called for facilitating the rapid and flexible amendment of relevant laws to keep pace with the rapid developments in this field, to build a common Arab information system accessible to all member states, and to launch awareness and training programs to enhance the capabilities of citizens in the Arab region to engage with advanced digital technologies and promote innovation and interaction.
Restructuring Education
The recommendations called for coordination with relevant authorities to restructure education and learning in the Arab region and globally to better adapt to new future jobs that support the concept of the Arab digital economy. Success in building a common Arab digital economy requires a unified Arab financial system. Arab countries must upgrade and unify their banking systems, and financial transparency is one of the solutions required globally to advance the digital economy.
A Supportive Environment
The recommendations emphasized the need to provide a supportive environment for all forms of digital information, making it accessible to all individuals and institutions, both public and private, at an affordable cost. This enables everyone to access digital economy outlets, reflecting the desired well-being of Arab societies. They also emphasized making every effort to encourage the private sector to invest in the sustainable development of the digital economy by encouraging it through the use of concessional financing, investment guarantees, appropriate investments, and improving the political and regulatory environment for private sector resources.
They also called for consolidating the success of joint Arab action in building a globally competitive digital economy through integration among Arab countries and the concerted efforts of Arab governments to achieve this goal. Continuous and constructive evaluation of the process of rebuilding public institutions and their legal systems is ongoing to enhance the roles of all Arab countries in all areas of digital economy work.
Second Day Sessions
On the second day of the conference, a session was held on developing policies and legislation for the Arab digital economy, with the participation of Sofie Lindén, UN High Commissioner and former Minister of Culture and Minister of Communications of Finland; Dr. Gerald Santucci, former Advisor on Policy and Research at the European Commission; Dr. Amr Badawi, former CEO of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority in Egypt; Dr. Adla Ragab, Director of the Center for Economic Studies; and Dr. Nagwa Samak, Head of the Department of Economics at Cairo University.
The second day opened with a recorded speech by Christopher Ferguson, Director of National and International Research, Government Digital Services, UK Cabinet Office. He shared insights on digital strategy and its importance for the future of the Arab region, emphasizing that the conference is a starting point for a new journey for the League of Arab States.
The Financial Affairs session also highlighted financial and banking issues related to the digital economy and financial transparency.
