Global leaders to discuss sustaining competitiveness at Global Competitiveness Forum

The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) announces that its 4th Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) will be held from 23 to 26th of January 2010 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Amr Dabbagh, Governor of SAGIA, expressed his thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, for his patronage of the Fourth GCF.

He added that “The Global Competitiveness Forum brings together global leaders and thinkers to develop the concept of sustainable competitiveness across international markets and to make a conscious, positive contribution to the growing body of research and thought leadership on this important topic and establishing it at the forefront of modern business practice.”

Founded in 2006, the GCF is the largest international economic event and the largest leadership gathering in the Middle East. It provides an international platform to raise awareness of the challenges facing competitiveness, critically evaluating the micro and macroeconomic requirements for becoming globally competitive.

GCF 2010 will feature over 100 speakers including the Saudi Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Harvard Business School Professor and founder of the theory of competitiveness Michael Porter, the Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Dr. Mohammed Al-Jasser, Founder of ‘Dell’ of computers Michael Dell, Founder and VC of the Global Investment House Maha Al-Ghunaim, President of Cisco Systems John Chambers, and James Wolfensohn, Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company LLC.

Mr. Abdul Mohsen Al Badr, CEO of the GCF, added:

“The GCF has established itself as a major global thought leadership event. The incredibly strong presence of local and global business personalities speaking at GCF 2010 confirms the event’s increasing international importance. The GCF has become an important intellectual meeting point for world business leaders, influential academics and pioneers of new business thinking. It also provides a high profile platform for best practice initiatives which encourage, develop and support sustainable social and economic activity.”

The theme for GCF 2010 will be sustainable competitiveness and various discussions will focus on key topics related to recent developments in the global economic climate by shedding light on the developments a year after the global economic downturn and the vision for 2010 and beyond. The role of governments as well as the private sector will also be discussed by looking at the challenges, incentives and requirements for sustainable competitiveness.

Other major topics include the environment and health care which will include contributions from five Nobel Prize winners and Saudi Female Professor Ghada Al Mutairi, winner of the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program for inventing a new technology that treats illnesses without surgery will all be participating at the forum.

New initiatives aimed at increasing the competitiveness of public and private sectors will also be announced in addition to the launched in previous forums – The Responsible Competitiveness Index, the Saudi Fast Growth 100 and the Porter Prize.