AMMAN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East and North Africa will be held at the Dead Sea in Jordan on April 5-6 2019.
The meeting will convene over 1,000 government, business and civil society leaders from more than 50 countries, the WEF said in a statement.
Meeting in New York on the occasion of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF, described the meeting as a unique opportunity to address the region's most critical challenges.
"The region stands at a crucial moment in its history, with an unprecedented opportunity for transformation, driven by its young populations and their embrace for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. But the promise can only be fulfilled if regional and international stakeholders step up their commitment to resolving the ongoing conflicts, which hold back the region's standing in the world," said Schwab, according to the statement.
With first results starting to emerge from social and economic reform efforts launched in several of the region's economies, the meeting will be a key opportunity to collaborate on scaling up such efforts, with a focus on creating sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems.
The meeting will pay particular attention to women entrepreneurs and key intergenerational issues such as transparency, accountability and sustainability and the protection of the environment.
In addition, building on the World Economic Forum's longstanding position as a platform for peace and reconciliation, the meeting will host dialogues between key decision-makers from the region, and the United States, Europe and Asia on addressing geopolitical challenges, including in Syria and Libya.
The World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa was last held in Jordan in 2017.
