The full-day conference, billed as “the biggest investment forum in the region” and a hybrid event (both virtual and in-person attendance), will focus on business and diplomatic opportunities and tourism between Israel and the Gulf.
Since the Abraham Accords were signed between Israel and the UAE last year, relations between the two countries have flourished. The conference also comes at a newsworthy time, after Operation Guardian of the Walls and before a new Israeli government is established.
“The Abraham Accords brought new and unique opportunities for collaboration between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” the Post said in a statement. “The Jerusalem Post and the Khaleej Times are turning these opportunities into reality.”
The partnership between The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s English newspaper founded in 1932, and the Khaleej Times, the United Arab Emirates’ oldest English daily established in 1987, is both powerful and symbolic.
“The Jerusalem Post has transformed into a platform for international exposure and connection in recent years,” said Jerusalem Post Group CEO Inbar Ashkenazi. “Today, more than ever, as people have been forced to look inwards because of COVID-19, we want to give them an opportunity to collaborate and create together.”
Government officials, business executives, philanthropists and thought-leaders will come together for an intimate and exclusive networking forum in Dubai. The event, which features prominent personalities from both Israel and the UAE, as well as from Morocco and India, will discuss the roadmap to creating an international economy.
Speakers and panelists will look at new technologies in the financial, medical, water and tourism industries, new real estate developments, visionary leadership and cybersecurity threats.
“The two biggest newsrooms will bring together the most influential, dynamic and innovative figures in investing for in-depth explorations of the challenges and opportunities posed by a rapidly changing landscape,” the Khaleej Times said, noting that speakers will have candid conversations about the most important trends, challenges and opportunities that define the future of the Middle East.
The event will be opened by Yaakov Katz, the editor of The Jerusalem Post. The opening speakers are Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the minister of state for foreign trade in the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, who will talk about the benefits of investing in the UAE, and World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder, whose speech is titled “Vision for Peace 2021.”
The event features TED-style addresses, high-profile interviews and fascinating panel discussions on, inter alia, global investment and opportunities in the aftermath of the pandemic, health technologies that are changing the world, new media in a new world and women in diplomacy.
Distinguished dignitaries from the UAE include Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, director-general of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Ambassador Houda Nonoo, and Dr. Raphael Nagel, founder and chairman of The Abrahamic Business Circle.
Among the VIPs from abroad are Paul Packer, chairman of the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, Indian Ambassador Pavan Kapoor, and Canadian Ambassador Marcy Grossman.
Nagel, who last year established the Dubai-based Abrahamic Business Circle, an inclusive business group that includes members of all religions and creeds from around the world, will discuss “UAE-Israel Business Ties: How the Abraham Accords Created A Path to Peace” in an interview with Yaakov Katz.
Nagel, who is Jewish, predicted that the Abraham Accords would infuse Israeli hi-tech into the Emirates and turn the UAE into one of the world’s technology hubs. “Our dream is to create a common market of the Middle East, with more than 400 million people living in it,” he said in an interview ahead of the conference.
We echo Nagel’s dream for a regional common market, and a future of cooperation and development, peace and prosperity in the Middle East, with Israel and the UAE leading the way.