The activities of the Arab Digital Economy Forum were launched in the context of the Arab Digital Economy Vision project that was announced in Abu Dhabi in December 2018, with the generous support and patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and a number of international institutions and organizations such as Harvard University, the United Nations, and the World Bank.

The conference was held under the patronage of His Excellency Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, at Expo 2020 Dubai, organized by the Arab Union for Digital Economy.

The forum was officially inaugurated in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, His Excellency Yassin Al Mahdi Walid, Prime Minister in charge of Emerging Enterprises and the Knowledge Economy in the State of Algeria, and His Excellency Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary-General, Head of the Office of the Secretary-General, and Commissioner-General of the League of Arab States to Expo 2020 Dubai, His Excellency Dr. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, Advisor to the Council of Arab Economic Unity and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Union for Digital Economy, His Excellency Jumaa Al Keet, Assistant Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Economy, and His Excellency Dr. Ismail Abdel Ghaffar, President of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport – League of Arab States, and a number From a large number of ambassadors of Arab countries and Arab delegations, and a wide international participation of speakers from the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, Harvard University, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.