Forum showcases new Global Agenda Council on the future of the Middle East - and preview new summit in Dubai

The group - the Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Middle East - is one of more that 80 that will set up to tackle key global issues.

For each major topic the Forum will identify and convene 15 to 30 of the world's leading experts to capture the very best knowledge on each issue and integrate it into global collaboration and decision-making processes.

All the Councils, consisting of the key global experts on each of the topics, will meet at the inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda, which will be held in Dubai 7-9 November.

The Global Agenda Council on the future of the Middle East, met for the first time at the Forum's meeting in Sharm EL Sheikh, bringing together leading experts and practitioners to address the region's challenges, capture the very best knowledge and explore the interlinkages with other global issues.

To further its mission and strategic vision, the World Economic Forum has recently created the Global Agenda Councils, which are multistakeholder groups of the most innovative and relevant minds, for the purpose of advancing knowledge and collaboratively exploring solutions to the most important issues in the global arena.

"The Global Agenda Councils mark a major milestone in the Forum's evolution towards becoming the integrator, manager and disseminator of the best knowledge available in the world. These Councils build upon a unique strength of the Forum; its extraordinary ability to convene the very best of the world's thought leaders," said Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum.

"We are very privileged to be hosting the inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai which we believe is an event of historical global significance.

The choice of the UAE as the host illustrates our role in setting and shaping the Global Agenda for the years to come," said H.E. Mohammad AlGergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, and Chairman, The Executive Office, Dubai.

The Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai is a new, unique gathering of the world's most influential thinkers - leaders from academia, business, government and society. Its purpose is to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing humanity.

This inaugural Summit of the members of the Forum's Global Agenda Councils, the world's foremost intelligence and knowledge network, will be held in partnership with the Government of Dubai on 7-9 November.

In all there are nearly 80 Global Agenda Councils to tackle issue areas ranging from global challenges, industry issues, regional and country councils and so called expertise councils on specific issue areas.

Amongst the councils being set up are ones on Water Security; Food Security; Economic Growth and Development; Terrorism; Education and Healthcare systems, Islam-West Dialogue and one on the Middle East which is holding its first meeting in Sharm El Sheikh.