Dubai Internet Forum Emphasises Importance Of Globalisation

Harry Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

05 March 2001

The 7th Annual Summit of the Emirates International Forum was held at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel from 28th February to 1st March 2000, under the title 'New Wave Mergers & Alliances - Strategies for the 21st Century Enterprise'. This was a major regional economic event, attended by 700 delegates including heads of corporate and government institutions, businessmen, experts and distinguished speakers from various parts of the world.

The Forum, which was opened by H.H. General Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, focussed on global economic development including large-scale global mergers, rapid advances in information technology, and their impact on the Gulf and Middle East economies. Guest speakers included Nelson Mandela, Paul Keating, former prime minister of Australia, and CEOs from a number of European Internet ventures.

Former US President, Bill Clinton, sent a message to the Forum which was delivered by the US Ambassador, H.E. Theodore Khattouf. Said Mr Clinton: 'This year, the forum will focus on strategic mergers and alliances. While these terms come to us from the business world, I encourage you to think more broadly about other alliances that need to be formed among and between governments and the private sector to ensure all countries share in the benefit of the global economy.'

Nelson Mandela said that the Arab region should play a larger role in campaigning for better terms of trade and a level playing field for equitable world economic development in the wake of the sweeping wave of free trade across the globe. He said that globalisation is a phenomenon rather than a creed and that governmental responses to it will impact on whether national economies will succeed or fail.

The summit was divided into five different sub-themes: New Wave Coalitions, Surviving Mergers Challenges, How to Forge Partnership, Transforming the Corporate Landscapes in the Inter-networked Corporate World and Driving Successful E-strategies.

Emirates International Forum came into being in 1993 with a view to building an internationally recognised platform for the free and frank exchange of ideas among public and private sectors experts and business developers.

Although the Forum was created by an official initiative, Dubai's success in e-business through the Internet City, as reflected by the highly successful conference, is due to the efforts of private enterprise. As one of the speakers, Nick Prag, Managing Director of EUBusiness, said: 'Net entrepreneurs cannot and should not wait for governments, the EU, or other international authorities. If we want to take advantage of the many opportunities out there in the new economy, then, to an extent, we have to make our own rules.'

Recommended