Abu Dhabi summit attracts Arab League head to discuss policies

High-level officials, policymakers and experts will gather this month in Abu Dhabi for indepth discussions on the most pressing issues and opportunities the region will face over the next decade.

Participants at the third Beirut Institute Summit Abu Dhabi will include Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, GCC Secretary General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani, senior German diplomat Philipp Ackermann and former CIA director and chairman of KKR Global Institute, Gen 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 served as ambassador to London and Washington, is a member of the Beirut Institute’s board of directors.

Raghida Dergham, the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National, said “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.