THIS MORNING: World Governments Summit wraps + UAE Innovates 2024 heads to Sharjah

Good morning, friends. We have another very packed issue for you today, thanks to the last day of the World Governments Summit and yet more earnings.

But first: A technical issue caused the links in yesterday morning’s edition of EnterpriseAM UAE to malfunction. We’ve since fixed the problem, which means you can check out the issue (and click the links) on the web edition. We apologize for the inconvenience.

THE BIG STORY here at home is everything that went down on the last day of the World Governments Summit, which was very AI-heavy. The biggest outcome of the day was the launch of the USD 300 mn Falcon Foundation, a nonprofit fund dedicated to promoting the development of open-source AI models and facilitating AI research.

SOUNDBITE OF THE DAY- “We see black swans happening once every three months,” as opposed to once every decade, Economy Minister Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri told CNBC (watch, runtime 1:44) on the sidelines of the summit. Al Marri pointed to recent trade disruptions in the Red Sea as the most recent black swan, noting that further escalation of global conflicts make it difficult for companies to meet supply demands, which leads to more inflation and consequently, higher interest rates.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT-

Property agents have two days left to wipe sold or rented properties from digital brokerage platforms, the Dubai Land Department said on LinkedIn. Agents must email proof of removal to this email address.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- UAE Innovates 2024 heads to Sharjah today, with stops in Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah before its finalstop in Dubai next Thursday, reports state news agency Wam.

#2- It’s the final day of the Future Warehouse & Logistics 2024 Conference. On the agenda: How to boost resilience and overcome challenges, with discussions on disruptions, sustainability, internet of things, automation, workplace management, and other topics.

#3- The Ajman Department of Tourism Development UK roadshow concludes today,aftershowcasing the emirate’s cultural offerings to reel in British tourists and investors in the tourism sector, according to a press release.

#4- The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2024will kick off today at Dubai International Stadium, before wrapping on Sunday, 25 February. The tournament will see 16 beach soccer teams, including the United Arab Emirates, battling it out for this year’s cup.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- The UAE is working with international and regional organizations to use StarLink’s satellite broadband services at its field hospital in Gaza, after StarLink got a license to operate in Israel and parts of Gaza, according to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement. The initiative will allow the hospital to connect to the internet when connection is severed inside Gaza.

The caveat: Israel will individually approve specific clients that can use Starlink’s services, in order to “confirm it to be an authorized entity with no concern of risk or possibility of endangering national security,” Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said.

#2- The GCC could add USD 2.5 tn to its GDP over the next decade if countries improve productivity levels, Strategy& said in a report (pdf) launched on the sidelines of the World Government Summit. This would take GDP growth from the current 3.8% to 5.4%, the report added.

So what needs to be done? The report identifies six pillars of productivity: Labor capital, natural capital (which relates to the natural living environment), social capital, institutions, physical capital (relating to reliable infrastructure), and innovation and intangible capital. If every country in the GCC improves its weakest pillar, the region can reach its potential USD 2.5 tn target, the report argues.

Outside of the region, if every country were to address its weakest productivity pillar, the global economy could see an additional USD 50 tn added over the next decade, with real GDP growth accelerating to 3.5%, up from 2.6%, the report said.

#3- Is Masdar eyeing Iberdrola’s US assets? UAE state-owned renewables developer Masdar is reportedly exploring an acquisition of Iberdrola’s onshore renewable energy assets in the US, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Last year, Masdar acquired a 49% stake in Iberdrola’s EUR 1.6 bn Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm off the coast of Germany. Masdar also signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Spanish utility firm last December to co-invest up to EUR 15 bn in exploring development projects in the offshore wind and green hydrogen in key markets including Germany, the UK, and the US.

#4-Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is looking to partner with Emirati and Saudi firms as China-GCC ties continue to warm, company President Michael Evans said at the World Governments Summit, according to Bloomberg. Local partnerships can help Alibaba keep up with the region’s developments, Evans said. GCC countries have been bolstering ties with China in recent years as they pursue investments to diversify their non-oil economies — a move that has been seeing pushback from Washington.

REMEMBER- G42 recently offloaded all its stakes in Chinese companies, including a USD 100 mn stake in TikTok parent company ByteDance, in a bid to “reassure” US partners. The move came after a New York Times report and a letter from a US congressional committee accused the tech group of working with the Chinese military.

DATA POINT-

Smart infrastructure investments have saved Dubai AED 290 bn thanks to decreased traffic congestion and reduced travel times and fuel consumption, said Director-General of Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) Mattar Al Tayer at the World Government Summit, according to an RTA statement.

RTA expects its self-driving transport strategy — launched in 2016 — to save some AED 22 bn by 2030, once it achieves its target of making 25% of all trips in the emirate autonomous by the end of the decade, Al Tayer said in a separate RTA statement.

ICYMI: The authority recently inked an agreement with electric aircraft developer Joby Aviation to launch air taxi services in the UAE by early 2026.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s all politics, all the time in the pages of the foreign press. Let’s start in Washington, where Politico and the New York Times report that Moscow may have made significant progress on the development of an anti-satellite nuclear weapon. The weapon has not yet been deployed, the Times writes.

MEANWHILE- The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are leading with Israel pulling out of Gaza peace talks. The Financial Times and the New York Times are looking at European defense policy in the wake of Republican presidential challenger Donald Trump’s remarks about not defending Nato allies that fail to hit their defense spending targets.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Cairo in more than a decade is also getting attention as Cairo and Ankara look to turn a new page. EnterpriseAM Egypt has more coverage this morning.

Oh, and Vladimir Putin would prefer that Joe Biden be elected president of the United States, calling the sitting president “more experienced and predictable.”