Head of Middle and North Africa at WEF, Maroun Kairouz.
DOHA: The ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025 convenes 3,000 leaders from diverse geographies and industries aimed at driving dialogue, building trust, and catalyse sustainable solutions to shared challenges.
An official said that the Forum is proud of its longstanding partnership with Qatar, and this year marks the second consecutive return of the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar H E Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Davos heading a strong delegation.
In an exclusive interview with The Peninsula, Maroun Kairouz, the Head of Middle and North Africa at WEF, said: “Qatar has one of the strongest participation to date at the Annual Meeting, with the Prime Minister speaking at the Forum’s main Geopolitics Outlook Session, titled Diplomacy amid Disorder, addressed the tense and highly fragmented state of the world.”
The official stated that there was also high-level Special Conversation session, moderated by the Forum’s President and CEO Borge Brende on the situation in the Middle East, as well as a discussion on Qatar’s much-appreciated and valued mediation efforts across the region.
Additionally, ministers and executives from Qatar addressed various panels and private dialogues on key topics including ‘Collaboration in the Intelligent Age’ and other sessions on financial stability, the future of banking, AI, and smart trade and investment, in line with the objectives of the third National Development Strategy (NDS3).
Kairouz noted that this year’s forum is oriented around five distinct and highly interconnected thematic priorities such as ‘Reimagining Growth’, ‘Industries in the Intelligent Age’, ‘Investing in People’, ‘Safeguarding the Planet’, and ‘Rebuilding Trust’
“We have already crossed the threshold into the Intelligent Age. It is up to us to determine whether it will lead to a future of greater equality, sustainability, and collaboration — or if it will deepen divides that already exist,” he said.
Kairouz stressed “It is imperative that we develop environmental, social, and geopolitical intelligence alongside technological intelligence. The window of opportunity is narrow, but with collective action and responsible leadership, we can seize the potential of this new era and build a world that benefits all of humanity.”
Highlighting the MENA programme at WEF 2025, he said that it has a widespread focus on the tensions in the region. “From Gaza to Syria, the programme focuses on fostering dialogues, both public and private, and in the spirit of the World Economic Forum, on identifying pathways for leaders to de-escalate tensions in the near term while identifying a long-term political horizon for rapprochement and stability,” Kairouz said.
He added, “With ambitious national visions like Qatar’s third National Development Strategy, we expect this to continue to 2030 and beyond, focusing on transforming the region’s major capitals into smart, inclusive, and innovation-driven hubs for exchange, trade, and sustainable growth.”
