Page 134 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - OCTOBER 2024

Next on the schedule was a panel discussion titled ‘Economic Diversification Pathways in the Gulf
Region’ where prominent speakers discussed the strategies for economic diversification in the
revenue, trade, and output pillars, in light of efforts to diversify away from fossil fuel dependence
towards sustainable development.

The panel featured Tariq Rashid Al Suwaidi from the UAE Ministry of Economy; Dr. Al Moatasim Al
Yaaqubi, Executive Director of the National Programme for Economic Diversification (Tanweea) in
Oman; Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economist at Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), and
Dr. Vito Intini, Regional Chief Economist for the Arab States at the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP). Meanwhile, Dr. Khalid Al Wazani, Professor of Economic and Public Policy at
MBRSG, moderated the discussion.

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda, and former Minister
Investment in Egypt, then followed with a keynote address on ‘Financing Green Pathways to
Economic Diversification’.

The conference continued with an international organisations-focused panel discussion titled
‘Global Reflections on the Challenges of Economic Diversification’, which explored the role of
economic diversification in development amid a rapidly changing global landscape.

Moderated by Dr. Nasser Saidi, Co-author of the Global Economic Diversification Index, President
of Nasser Saidi & Associates (NS&A), and Former Minister of Economy and Trade in Lebanon, the
session featured Dr. Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the
International Monetary Fund (IMF); Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Special Envoy on Financing the
2030 Agenda; Dr. Clovis Freire Jr., Chief of the Commodity Research and Analysis Section at the UN
Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and Dr. Youness Abouyoub, Chief of Governance and State
Building at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA).

Day one continued with a Closed Policy Council on ‘Advancing Global Economic Diversification
Measurement: Towards Data-driven Policy’. The session convened high-level policymakers and
academic experts to discuss practical measures of economic diversification, challenges related to
measurement and data availability, and potential improvements to expand the impact of the Global
EDI index.

The day-one agenda also included two research paper sessions, covering diverse topics including
artificial intelligence and economic diversification, informal economic sector legalisation for
economic diversification, economic diversification and institutional quality, economic complexity
and commodity dependence, as well as economic diversification and decarbonisation in oil and
non-oil producing countries. The conference continues on the second day with a series of closed
panel discussions.

Held on 31st October and 1st November 2024, the Global Conference on Economic Diversification
2024 is the first of an annual series of events, set to bring together global policy experts,
government decision makers, research scholars, and academics from around the world, working on
the frontiers of research and practice of economic diversification.

https://www.wam.ae/article/b5ykysq-inaugural-global-conference-economic