DIFC Week: GCC better resourced than other regions to weather global slowdown

The consensus among speakers at DIFC Week was that the region was better-resourced than most other parts of the world to weather the global slowdown.

Over 500 international business leaders and policymakers from more than 30 countries in the GCC region and across the world met in Dubai to discuss the opportunities and critical challenges facing the region in the midst of the global economic crisis.

HE Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Vice Chairman of the UAE Central Bank, said:

"Over the past four days we've seen a series of highly insightful discussions about business in the Middle East. We've covered a wide range of fundamental issues and heard many different perspectives, and what is clear is that the region is well positioned to deal with the current financial crisis and there will continue to be many opportunities for growth."

Central issues debated during the week included the vital role of family businesses in the economy and how the global financial crisis can be an opportunity for investments, Dubai's ability to meet its debt obligations, governments' responses to new pressures on financial markets, structuring the regulatory framework for Islamic finance, energy geopolitics, emerging markets in and after the financial crisis and how to get confidence back in the global financial markets.

The four-day event featured over 70 speakers from the world's major international markets, 21 separate sessions, and a televised debate on how to get confidence back in the global financial markets.

The DIFC Family Summit, held in association with the Tharawat Family Business Forum, provided a platform for the mutual exchange of knowledge and insights on management, growth, continuity, strategy and other business related topics.

The Summit, attended by 75 leading Arab families and their representatives from the Middle East region, focused on the global market turmoil and the importance of making a rational and realistic assessment of the situation in order to make good investment.

The DIFC Forum, which took place on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 November, witnessed a series of debates between analysts and business leaders from across the region and the world on the key issues facing the region.

The Forum opened by looking at the economic outlook for the world and the GCC in 2009.

It covered a number of major topics and tackled critical issues that determine the GCC's future such as: the significance of foreign investment attraction and its value, the next generation of Islamic Finance, opportunities and obstacles facing women in business in the Gulf, energy geopolitics in an era of structural change and the emerging business of energy alternatives.

The four-day event featured over 70 speakers from the world's major international markets, 21 separate sessions, and a televised debate on how to get confidence back in the global financial markets.