Hollande and Gates among top speakers at ASF event
dubai — Former French president Francois Hollande and former US defence secretary Robert Gates will be among the prominent economic and political analysts and experts who will address the Arab Strategy Forum (ASF). The 10th edition of the one-day forum will be held on December 12 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The forum will be held under the theme ‘The State of the World in 2018’ and will see thought leaders delivering geopolitical and economic forecasts on various global and regional issues. The forum aims to enable leaders in both private and public sectors to better anticipate future developments.
The event will have six plenary sessions featuring prominent speakers, including Nobel prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who will discuss the state of the world in 2018 from an economic perspective, and address the question of whether the world will witness an economic crisis. Other sessions at the event will cover the political and economic state of the Arab world, and ask key questions like which economy will lead the region, and how the confrontation with Iran will impact the region.
The forum will also review a report on the events that will affect the world in 2018.
Suha Al Aleeli, director of the ASF, said: “The forum reflects the vision of Sheikh Mohammed with regard to the need to anticipate geopolitical and economic developments regionally and globally so that we can be prepared to deal with various scenarios and advance the interests of the region. The world is going through constant changes which require a quick response and action plans.”