Leading aviation, industry and education figures from Saudi Arabia will take part in the second aerospace summit being held in Abu Dhabi next week.

Abu Dhabi Global Aerospace Summit is an invitation-only strategic forum for senior international industry leaders in aviation, aerospace, defence and space being hosted by Mubadala Development Company.

Organized by Streamline Marketing Group, the summit will run from April 7 to 8 at the St. Regis Hotel, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. It is expected to attract 1,000 C-level executives from across the world, making it one of the most important industry forums in 2014.

The summit will focus on the challenges of driving industrialization and growth while adapting to global socio-economic change.

Among the attendees are Prince Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud, VP of King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) and Sulaiman Abdullah Al–Hamdan, the CEO of Nas Holding.

Prince Turki will be speaking at a session highlighting the importance of developing space launch capabilities for countries that aim to enter the space commercialization industry.

He will be joined by a group of international experts representing the diverse sectors of the space industry. The group will debate the obstacles involved in one of the most technically challenging and unforgiving aspects of space flight.

Prince Turki said the development of knowledge-based societies and space exploration capabilities are closely interlinked. “If nations are to further explore and expand their access to space, more research needs to be harnessed. And to be able to conduct research and share data, more satellite and communications facilities are required.”

His Highness will stress that for countries to achieve successful national space strategies and meet their goals of space commercialization, it is essential to have access to low cost launch capabilities from developed nations.

“This might not be easy as it sounds,” said Prince Turki. “There are a number of obstacles with regards to cost, schedule and commercial performance. These among other challenges will be discussed in detail among a number of international experts at Abu Dhabi’s Global Aerospace Summit in April,” he added.

Al-Saud holds a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in USA. He was appointed the Vice President of King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) in 2004 after heading the space research projects as Director of the Space Research Institute.

The themes covered by the summit will include Workforce and Industrialization together with dedicated, sector-specific strategy seminars including Defence Industry Closed Door Briefings, an Abu Dhabi Suppliers Forum and a Military, Satellite and Communications session. It will bring industry experts together to address the challenges faced by the sector and shape future growth strategies.

The inaugural Summit in 2012 attracted more than 900 C-suite executives from 52 countries.  The 2014 event will also include delegates from emerging markets such as Russia, China, India, Eastern Europe and South America.-TradeArabia News Service