Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 3, 2018:  The biggest challenge for the UAE’s Minister of Energy and Industry is ensuring water security for the country’s future generations. 

Speaking at the inaugural edition of the Global Leaders Forum, held in Dubai on April 3, 2018, His Excellency Suhail Al Mazrouei, the UAE’s Minister of Energy and Industry, said, “The UAE has already put in place a strategy to reduce water consumption.

This is the priority for everyone to look at now for the sake of future generations.”

“We need to stop taking any water from the ground water resources, especially for agricultural purposes.

The current sources need to be replaced to increase the efficiency and keep it for the future generations,” he added. 

The minister stressed on the need to look for new methods for making availability of clean water. 

“We burn gas for water desalination, which does not make sense -- economically and environmentally.

The world is rallying towards clean energy.

The fossil of future will be much cleaner than what it is today.  

In the UAE, our target is to produce clean energy by 70 per cent from the current levels,” he said. 

Stressing on the renewable source of energy, the minister said renewable is the choice and destiny for us in the UAE. 

As part of diversification to sustain growth, the UAE’s leading oil producing company is planning to double its refining capacity and triple its petrochemical manufacturing capacity. 

The minister also stressed on the UAE’s initiatives to reduce energy consumption levels by 40 per cent by 2050. 

He said this can be achieved by improving the standards of new buildings, retrofitting systems of the existing buildings and changing consumers behaviors to witness the energy conservation and save the cost considerably.

The future buildings will conserve and produce energy. 

Organized by Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East, The Global Leaders Forum addressed challenges and next steps in creating sustainable business and economy.

The day-long event explored the challenges that governments, businesses and societies face in fostering innovation and being more sustainable, and the opportunities presented by following a more sustainable agenda. 

The forum hosted global leaders, who have successfully led growth and driven innovation.

The forum also served as a platform for leaders to engage, network, discuss and learn about best practices from global leaders.

The high-profile speaker list at the event included; H.E. Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Sharjah Investment Development Authority (Shurooq); Younus Al Nasser, Assistant Director General of Smart Dubai Office; Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of Dubai Multi Commodity Centre; Hussain Sajwani, Chairman of DAMAC Properties; Mustafa Kheriba, Group COO of Abu Dhabi Financial Group; Hamed Zaghw, Chief Executive, Middle East of AECOM; Peter England, CEO of RAKBANK; Osman Sultan, CEO of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company; Armand Arton, CEO & President of Arton Capital; and Gregor Koželj, CEO, Founder of X8 AG amongst others.

The Global Leaders Forum attracted professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, political leaders, change agents and promising leaders to connect and network, under one roof.

Through interactive sessions, the focus was on gauging the expected impact of new economic developments in the coming years, identifying the areas for change and improvement in policy-making and understanding how business leaders can embrace disruption to remain competent. 

Sponsored by X8 AG, Arton Capital, Steelcase and Singapore Airlines as Official Airline Partner, the event will feature various keynote and panel discussions focusing on Devising the New Normal for a Sustainable Economy; Driving Investments and Building a Robust Financial Sector; The Future of Energy; Building Smart Cities towards a Smart Economy and Capitalizing Economic Transformation through Sovereign Wealth Funds.