Amelie Weinzierl, Media Associate, Public Engagement, Tel.: +41 79 571 8254; Email: Amelie.Weinzierl@weforum.org
Geneva, Switzerland, 12 June 2014 – An urgent need to address societal tensions in the Middle East and North Africa, long-simmering economic problems such as widening income gaps and structural unemployment, as well as growing concern over the quality of economic policies rank among the top 10 trends for world leaders to address in 2014, according to the World Economic Forum’s Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014, whose Arabic version launches tomorrow at the Tunisia Investment Forum.
The findings of the report are based on a survey of more than 1,500 experts from the World Economic Forum’s Network of Global Agenda Councils and its Young Global Leaders and Global Shapers communities. In addition to identifying the emerging trends for the year ahead, the survey aims to map the connections between them to help leaders and policy-makers formulate effective responses.
The report also highlights emerging trends whose importance will be on the rise in the months and years to come, according to these experts. These trends include the implications of shale gas extraction, the failure or inadequacy of democratic institutions and the rise of emerging-market multinational companies – all of which will particularly affect the Arab world in the near future.
The Arabic version of the Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014 will be launched during a World Economic Forum plenary session at the Tunisia Investment Forum, which will take place on 12-13 June in Tunis. The session will highlight the work of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Arab World and explore the findings of the report and how they relate to the current situation in Tunisia. The session will be moderated by Miroslav Dusek, Head of Middle East and North Africa, World Economic Forum.
Notes to Editors
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