Megatrends Conference, the first conference of its kind that examines the region’s economy in a global context, began in Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) and Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage inaugurated the event.

Sheikh Sultan in his welcome address said that the Abu Dhabi Government had identified tourism as key driver of economic diversification.

"We aim to deliver around 2.3 million hotel guests to this emirate by 2012 and to sustain last year’s performance when we received 1.5 million hotel guests."

“ADTA acts as lead arranger to seed innovative and viable business events aligned to the Abu Dhabi Government’s 2030 Economic Vision. It can lead-arrange resources which are financial, or otherwise, across 12 sectors including energy, aviation, healthcare and education."

"Event organisers with a viable proposal can apply for financial grants, government endorsement, patronage, cost rebates and marketing support. Proposals are assessed by a number of criteria to see what benefit they bring to Abu Dhabi,” he added.

"Billed as balancing international experience with local insights to strengthen the UAE’s financial markets, ‘MegaTrends, Essential Strategic Insights’ is the first conference of its kind and features presentations and strategic advice from economic experts from across the globe, complemented by local expertise."

The main keynote speech of the day was given by Paul Krugman, professor of Economics at Princeton University, and 2008 Nobel Prize winner for Economics.

Talking about the future direction of the global economy, Dr Krugman explained that the world economy is stabilising but is still on the road to recovery.

"Despite the situation, the credit crunch has been contained. The world economy will recover and we will not experience the great world depression. The world economy is stabilising but we are still on the road to recovery."

"We are like a patient who was brought in the hospital on the brink of dying, was stabilized and was out of acute danger but is still under observation,” Krugman said.

Krugman cited trends that will eventually allow the world economy to recover such as corporation should invest more on durable goods, engage in IT revolution and create environmental policies as corporations need to invest on the new regime by investing on policies that will resolve the climate changes.

“We will eventually recover – but we don’t know when yet, and we need to make sure that it will not happen again,” he added.

Other sessions at the conference include a keynote by Ross Dawson, chairman, Future Exploration Network in Australia, on the technologies that will drive growth and the opportunities presented by social and generational change; and three separate panel discussions looking specifically at the GCC’s financial landscape, the position of the UAE’s banks and the future of the Gulf’s property market.

Commenting on the outlook for the local industry, Philip Ward, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Finance said, "The strategic plan for Abu Dhabi, Plan 2030, which outlines residential property developed in tandem with the diversification of the economy and the development of new industries, provides confidence in levels of supply and demand."

"Developers in the capital can be confident that their developments will meet real demand, and investors can feel confident that their property investment over the long term will hold its value," he added.-TradeArabia News Service