It was an honour and privilege for the Government of Dubai to co-host the inaugural Summit of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Councils, the world's foremost intelligence and knowledge network.

The world's finest minds including Nobel Prize laureates, industry captains and thought-leaders met in Dubai to share ideas and insights that will assist policy-makers to address the most pressing challenges that the world faces today.

Hosting the Summit was a testament to the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai. His commitment to action and execution makes him a global thought-leader.

Though the Summit came amidst the global financial crisis, the direction of the Council meetings was to take a holistic and integrated approach to global issues and set agendas based on long-term strategic perspectives. Out of the nearly 70 issues that were debated at the Summit, 40 are pressing global challenges ranging from the improvement of the global trade regime to climate change and food and water security. The topics addressed significantly influence the lives of people from all walks of life.

The agendas set at the Summit will now have a farreaching impact on the way governments function, businesses are conducted and people meet everyday challenges. The Dubai Summit, thus, can pave the way for a new era in global progress. The evaluations of the Summit will serve as a primer for further thought and action at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 in Davos.

The global interest that the Summit has sparked will serve as an inspiration for every participant as, in the coming days, their thought-processes will be further discussed and evaluated to eventually become the basis for policy-making.

As the world at large enters into a new era of unprecedented challenges and opportunities, the Summit was a timely, collective and truly global effort to pave the way for meaningful change that can be brought about only through constructive thinking followed by positive action.

We are honoured that Dubai was chosen as the venue of the meeting and hope that the city's unique ambience has inspired insightful thinking. We look forward to welcoming Council Members to the forthcoming sessions of the Summit in our city.

Mohamed Alabbar
Co-Chairman of the Summit on the Global Agenda