Dubai to host World Government Summit 2025 with record international participation

The World Government Summit 2025 kicked off today under the theme “Shaping Future Governments”, with record international participation, heads of state and government, international and regional organizations, global institutions, and a group of thought leaders and global experts.

His Excellency Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation, delivered a speech in which he stressed that the summit, since its launch more than ten years ago, has become, with the visions and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, and his brother His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, the largest and most influential global forum that the world’s governments look forward to meeting, dialogue, and setting scenarios and paths for their transition to the future and bringing about significant transformations in their societies to sustain progress and prosperity.

Mr. Al Gergawi said during his speech at the World Government Summit Dialogue, which was held today at the Museum of the Future in Dubai and will continue until February 14, that this distinguished position of the World Government Summit was established by an exceptional vision that the summit has adopted throughout its history, and is based on a unique model that places proactive planning for the future as the basis for all government work policies, and targets at the forefront of its priorities the empowerment of people and the development of societies, and sees international partnership and cooperation as the fastest and most successful means to achieve goals and objectives and spread goodness for all.

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit Foundation revealed that the new session will witness the participation of more than 30 heads of state and government, more than 80 international and regional organizations, in addition to 140 government delegations and a group of thought leaders and global experts, with the attendance of more than 6,000 participants.

He pointed out that this session includes an expanded agenda with qualitative activities that include 21 global forums that discuss major global future trends and transformations in more than 200 interactive sessions, in which more than 300 international figures including presidents, ministers, experts, thinkers and decision-makers, in addition to holding more than 30 roundtables and ministerial meetings, with the participation of more than 400 ministers, while the summit issues 30 strategic reports in cooperation with international knowledge partners.

• Participation of heads of state

About the heads of state participating in the summit, he noted the participation of a large number of leaders, including Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia, Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego, President of the Republic of Colombia, Bernardo Arevalo, President of the Republic of Guatemala, Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait, Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Robina Nabanga, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity in the State of Libya, Irakli Kobakhidze, Prime Minister of Georgia, and Muhammad Yunus, Prime Minister of the Interim Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Among the most prominent leaders of states and governments participating in the summit are Andry Nirina Rajoelina, President of the Republic of Madagascar, Jose Ramos-Horta, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister Commonwealth of Dominica, Jeremiah Manele, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, and Masrour Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq.

Al Gergawi added that the summit has become an open platform that leads future thinking, and includes leaders, thinkers, experts, entrepreneurs, minds, talents and innovators, to anticipate the features and paths of the future, and share ideas, visions and innovative proactive solutions to the challenges facing humanity, noting that the summit will host dialogues with the participation of heads of international and regional organizations, most notably Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Doreen Bogdan Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union; Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States; Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); and Jassim Al-Badawi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Al Gergawi said that the summit will witness the participation of leaders of vital global sectors and prominent private sector companies in the fields of artificial intelligence, energy, transportation, tourism, the financial sector, and media, such as: Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google; Joseph Tsai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alibaba Group; Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard; Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones; Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca; David Baszucki, Co-Founder and CEO of Roblox; Larry Ellison, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Oracle, and other leaders of influential sectors shaping the future. The World Government Summit, in its new session, achieves an important shift in global participation in its activities, not only at the record size of participation, which is the largest in the history of the summit, with a jump of more than 50% from last year’s session, but also extends to the greater diversity witnessed by the summit for the first time since its launch, which includes representation from all continents and countries of the world, in addition to the diversity in the agenda of events that include various sectors and fields that influence shaping the future and developing global societies.

The World Government Summit hosts purposeful global discussions and dialogues to anticipate the formation of future governments, as these dialogues include roundtable meetings that bring together heads of state, global government officials, international organizations, thought leaders and the private sector, ensuring the enhancement of international cooperation, identifying innovative solutions to future challenges, anticipating the most prominent opportunities and inspiring the next generation of governments.

National identity of governments

On the partnership between government and citizens in decision-making, a session will be held by Senator Kevin Thomas, Senator of New York State, John Clifton, CEO of Gallup, and Lisa Witter, Founding Partner at Apolitical.

While Hiro Mizuno, sustainability expert and Harley-Davidson board member, speaks in a session titled How do we partner towards sustainable investments?, Tri Rismarini, Minister of Social Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, and Nick Studer, CEO of Oliver Wyman, answer the question: Government foresight.. How do we align policies with the future?, while in another session, Maurice Levy, Chairman of Publicis Group, answers the question of how do we design the national identity of governments in the age of artificial intelligence?.

In a third session, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala Investment Company, Stephen Pagliuca, Founder of Bain Capital and Owner of the Boston Celtics, and Ross Perot Jr., Chairman of Perot Group, answer the question of who will chart the paths of future investments.

Matthias Cormann, Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, will speak in a session titled Keeping Up with Economic Change: A Global Vision for a Renewed Future, while in another session, American journalist and critic Tucker Carlson will speak about his vision for the future of storytelling.