Page 142 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - OCTOBER 2024

stakeholders from around the world a platform to share cutting-edge thematic research, analyse
global findings and develop policy insights, while also bringing influential decision makers and
prominent experts together to discuss challenges to economic diversification and chart the way
forward."

Dr. Fadi Salem, Director of the Policy Research Department at MBRSG and co-chair of the
conference remarked that "the first edition of the conference has attracted extensive global
participation and welcomed more than 150 experts and participants from 30 countries and over
130 local, regional, and international organisations, including government and academic
institutions. Around 70 papers were submitted from academic institutions around the world and
reviewed by an international scientific committee of thought leaders and academic experts. A total
of 19 papers were accepted to be published by the MBRSG in the conference proceedings, which
will be made accessible to researchers and practitioners worldwide."

The agenda for day one the conference included a series of panel discussions, roundtables, and
workshops. Following Alia bint Abdulla Al Mazrouei's speech, Prof. Cesar Hidalgo, Professor of
Behavioural Sciences at the Toulouse School of Economics and Co-author of the Economics
Complexity Index, delivered another keynote address on the links between economic diversification
and complexity.

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).

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