Governor inaugurates first DIFCweek

His Excellency Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), on Saturday opened DIFCweek with a welcome address at the DIFC Economic Forum.

The DIFC Economic Forum is a unique event, developed with the support of the Economist Intelligence Unit, and is the first in a series of conferences, summits and boutique lectures, held November 17-23.

During his opening speech, Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman welcomed the audience and outlined the ambitions for the week ahead: "The aims of DIFCweek are to present challenges for debate, to identify opportunities for leverage, and to create a forum to assess current situations and predict coming trends, so that we can all stride into the future with confidence. Hence the theme of DIFCweek is: Financial Opportunities for the Third Millennium."

"We have brought together more than 100 speakers who will address the principal issues, challenges and opportunities of the world's current and emerging financial markets. This week is critical at a time when the world's major financial centres are facing unprecedented challenges that stoke competition between long-established centres like such as New York and London and give encouragement to newer hubs like Dubai", he added.

The DIFC Economic Forum provides a valuable insight into investment opportunities and trends in emerging markets, with particular focus on implications for the Gulf markets. Whilst a substantial amount of foreign direct investment is now originating from emerging market countries, equally investment flows continue unabated from developed to emerging markets, with investors prepared to offset volatility and risk against higher returns.

Bringing leading economists, strategists, financiers and investors from around the world to meet regional experts and stakeholders, this landmark event analyses the changing dynamics of investing in emerging markets. It also addresses key issues such as: the top investment prospects for the year ahead; macro-economic characteristics which define an attractive investment opportunity; the best returns from emerging market investments; and the potential impact of a credit crunch in 2008.

There is a comprehensive agenda of interactive sessions, speaker presentations and panel discussions. Sessions throughout the day are moderated by Robin Bew, Editorial Director and Chief Economist of the Economist Intelligence Unit, along with Brad Bourland, Head of Research and Chief Economist at Jadwa Investment.

Robert Shiller, Professor of Economics at Yale University, the global macro-economic outlook for 2008. Dr Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman of Templeton Asset Investments has examined global investment trends, whilst Dr Nasser Saidi, Chief Economist of the DIFC Authority and Executive Director of Hawkamah, has focused more specifically at the economic outlook for the MENA region.

Stephen Roach, Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia defined hot investment vehicles for 2008 and Pierre Cailleteau, Senior Vice-President and Chief International Economic and Financial Policy Analyst at Moody's Investors Service, presented his analysis to risk dynamics and assessment in emerging markets.

For further information on the DIFCweek, please visit Arabian Business.com's Special Report .

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