In his opening speech, His Excellency Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, expressed the Arab League’s appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

He thanked the team, His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, for sponsoring the work of this important conference, which deals with topics of paramount importance in order to achieve development goals in the Arab region.
He said that the digital economy currently represents an important resource of the global economy, and its importance is proven to be constantly increasing, as all data indicates an acceleration in the growth of the digital economy at rates that exceed the rest of the traditional sectors of the economy, and the contribution of the digital sector is equivalent to 22% of the total global gross product. While this percentage drops in the Arab world to only 5%.

He added that bridging this gap and catching up with the developed countries requires us as Arabs to develop and implement sound and practical policies to advance the digital economy, as investment in this field will allow achieving high and sustainable growth rates that will absorb large numbers of young people looking for job opportunities in many Arab countries, and that After the high unemployment rates following the outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic, despite the exceptional measures adopted by all Arab governments to confront it.

He referred to the issue of formulating policies and strategies, praising the initiative received by the League of Arab States from the UAE regarding the development of the “Arab vision for the digital economy.” The League’s Economic and Social Council, in its last session, agreed to submit it within the economic files to the Arab leaders for consideration for adoption at the Arab Summit He hoped everyone would work on implementing this initiative and benefiting from its content.

He also pointed out that the issue of digital transformation and the modernization of the Arab strategy in this field represents one of the three priorities that we chose to focus on in the League of Arab States, in addition to the topics of sustainable development and entrepreneurship. The future’s technology. In this regard, I refer to this honorable assembly that I have proposed to the Higher Coordination Committee for Joint Arab Action – whose membership includes all institutions operating under the umbrella of the League – to form an Arab Advisory Council for Artificial Intelligence, whose membership includes specialists from Arab organizations and member states, and supervises It develops an Arab strategy in this field and, when needed, provides the necessary advice and support to Arab countries.

He explained that the development of the digital economy requires basic things, including providing an incubating and supportive environment for digital companies, establishing appropriate infrastructure and flexible legislation that facilitates the establishment of companies and provides basic rules for the protection of personal data, and other requirements, and that the human element remains the most precious wealth and the most important pillar on which to build Fortunately, most of our countries have a human reservoir of competencies that must be taken care of, and work to attract and encourage them by establishing business incubators, training young people on small entrepreneurship, motivating them to establish digital companies and establishing electronic platforms that are concerned with trade and services, as Arab youth need encouragement and development They have digital thought and provide the appropriate conditions to implement their ideas.

As he said, there is a deep global awareness of the danger of climate change. It is the problem of the times, as we see today some of its effects. Natural disasters have been frequent, such as floods, fires and epidemics, and it is worrying that our Arab region is one of the regions most affected by its consequences, and we as Arabs must speed up the development of solutions, including the development of digital economies that take into account the It contributes to solving problems by employing digital technology as a means to create wealth and serve our environmental issues, and we must encourage initiatives related to the green economy and promote sustainable solutions by taking advantage of global efforts to confront climate change.
At the end of his speech, Aboul Gheit stressed that the UAE is preparing to host important global events whose momentum must be taken advantage of to push climate action and promote Arab issues, including the development of the green economy in the region, the Dubai Expo 2020, and the Regional Climate Week, as well as the Climate Summit for the year 2023 (COP28), expressing his hope In winning the UAE hosting it and providing all the conditions necessary for its success, he renewed his thanks to the UAE leadership and people for their kind hospitality and hospitality, wishing the conference all success.

About the conference

The Conference and Exhibition of Digital Economy Technologies “Seamless Middle East 2021” will be held at the World Trade Center in Dubai and will continue on September 29-30, 2021 under the auspices of the League of Arab States and organized by Terrapin International Conferences Organization.

This year’s conference and exhibition comes after the launch of the Arab Digital Economy Vision initiative in December 2018 in Abu Dhabi, and to complement the efforts of the Arab League in highlighting the role of advanced technologies in building social and economic systems in the region.

A large number of government officials and experts will participate in the conference to shed light on the latest technologies and challenges in the world of the digital revolution, through physical and virtual platforms for remote participation and live broadcasts of events and sessions.