UAE Ministry of Economy has partnered with Global Trade Development Week (GTDW) in a move to explore global and local levers for innovation in global trade and economic development.

The set of initiatives announced today (September 20) will engage leaders from private and public sector, as well as academia, to define future priorities for the UAE, and also provide a showcase for other emerging economies.

As part of this initiative GTDW will gather insights through a survey of the 1,000 trade leaders from government and private sector in over 100 countries, which are due to attend to attend GTDW in Dubai, UAE this October.

Ayesha Alkobaisi, director of International Trade Organisations at the UAE Ministry of Economy and project director for GTDW, said: “The UAE Ministry of Economy is driving progress towards the UAE 2021 Strategy. Innovation is a key pillar of the strategy and we are keen to use this research on innovation to boost our international attractiveness and competitiveness. The UAE is committed to creating ecosystems that drive innovation and promote sustainable economic development through deepened trade and investment attractiveness internationally.”

GTDW will be working with its knowledge partner, AT Kearney, a leading management consultant, to produce the survey and report. The Knowledge Partnership agreement leverages AT Kearney’s global innovation expertise and GTDW’s network of high-level trade leaders.

The purpose of the exercise is to explore how business and government are guided by innovation when seeking to mitigate threats and capture opportunities to improve competitiveness, grow trade, profitability and economic development.

“Economic development and increased trade across borders are perhaps the strongest enablers of geopolitical stability. Innovation is a powerful tool to accelerate both,” said Mauricio Zuazua, partner at AT Kearney Economic Development and Innovation Practices AT Kearney Middle East.

“Together with the UAE Ministry of Economy and GTDW, we will explore how policy and business practices, combined, can foster the innovation required to stimulate economic growth.”

Held annually in Dubai, GTDW is a major international forum on trade and economic development. The results will be revealed during the plenary session of GTDW being held from October 27 to 29 in Ritz Carlton DIFC.

GTDW will be addressed by 150 speakers, some the most influential leaders driving world trade today. GTDW features a series of specialized trade summits that link key sectors across international trade, the theme for the 2015 event ‘Innovation in Global Trade and Economic Development’ underpins the discussions across all the summits.

Andrew Keable, co-CEO of KW Group, the organisers of the event, said: “GTDW is remarkable for bringing together such an outstanding list of influential people together in one location.  We are privileged to be working with A.T. Kearney and to be guided by the Ministry of Economy.”

“This survey presents an excellent opportunity for us to connect with industry heads and government leaders in order to gauge and bench-mark their attitudes, practices and predictions on how innovation may help to reduce barriers to trade and advance industries and economies globally,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service