Narendra Modi a keynote speaker at upcoming World Government Summit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a speech at the World Government Summit in February, for which India has been selected as guest of honour, it was announced on Wednesday.

Modi is one of 10 heads of state and governments expected to attend, in addition representatives of 16 international organisations and leading international companies. Among those expected to attend are World Bank managing director Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director Angel Guerria and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary General Angel Gurria.

The private sector will be represented by, among others, Huawei chairwoman Sun Yafang, NASDAQ president Adena Friedman, SAP CEO Bill McDermott and Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani.

Other prominent speakers at the event include Deepak Chopra, political scientist Francis Fukuyama, Huffington Post co-founder Ariana Huffington and philosopher and author Malcom Gladwell.

Commenting on India’s selection as the summit’s guest of honour, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future and World Government Summit chairman Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi said that it was chosen “for its economic and development experience that deserves to be presented as a model for developing countries and emerging economies worldwide.”

“The country has the world’s best executive heads in various fields, in addition to its scientific contributions and programs in the areas of space and technology,” he added.

Al Gergawi noted that the summit will focus on 10 topics, such as the future of integrated health and biotechnology, cyber-sates, the future of global governance, and cryptocurrencies and the future of financial markets.

“The summit has become an incubator for the future and a catalyst to shape global trends,” he said. “The event has evolved into a leader of change that supports the transformation of the results of scientific foresight into practical applications, solutions and tools that governments can use to improve the quality of life.”

Additionally, for the first time since the summit’s inception in 2013, five separate forums under will one umbrella will address the “challenges of the future vital sectors”, including a global policy platform, an Arab Youth forum, a space settlement forum, a climate change forum and a global AI (artificial intelligence forum).

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for AI, said that the AI forum “will include workshops that convene key figures in artificial intelligence to outline clear plans for governments in AI governance, establish legislative and regulatory frameworks for this sector, and produce a road map to leverage AI to serve societies and build a better future for humanity.”