Rising inflation and global crises top of agenda for governments, says Mohammed Al Gergawi

UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs spoke on the first day of the World Government Summit

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, listen to 'ethical hacker' David Colombo speak at a session at the World Government Summit 2022. Pawan Singh / The National

Colombo, founder and chief executive of the Colombo Technology cyber security company, at the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, attends the World Government Summit in Dubai. Photo: Dubai Media Office

Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, at the summit. Photo: Dubai Media Office

George Friedman, founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures, at the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

The summit will conclude on Wednesday. Pawan Singh / The National

A visitor steps on to a self-driving vehicle at the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

Thousands of delegates and hundreds of speakers are attending the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble, left, moderates a panel discussion featuring the UAE's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Suhail Al Mazrouei, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Iraqi Kurdistan's Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. AFP

People arrive at the World Government Summit, being held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pawan Singh / The National

People arrive at the World Government Summit, being held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pawan Singh / The National

A poster shows Elon Musk, a speaker at a previous year's event. Pawan Singh / The National

Delegates at the World Government Summit 2022. Pawan Singh / The National

The conference centre at Expo 2020 Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

The auditorium is one of the major buildings that will remain in place after the world's fair ends. Pawan Singh / The National

Governments must prepare for the “rapid changes that the world is witnessing”, from increasing inflation to the rise of Metaverse, and cryptocurrencies, a UAE minister has said.

Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, told the World Government Summit on Tuesday that the world today was “facing more question marks than answers” and that decision-makers needed to adapt quicker to create a better future for their people.

During the opening session for the two-day summit, taking place in the closing days of Expo 2020 Dubai, he said there were three key areas governments should focus on.

These include dealing with growing inflation and forming closer partnerships with the private sector.

“The speed of change is bigger than what we expected. What happened in the past 10 years exceeded what’s happened in the past 100 years, and events in the past two years have exceed those in the past decade,” said Mr Al Gergawi.

“There is a frightening and massive acceleration of inflation in countries of the world, which has quadrupled in the last two years. There are many indicators that show massive changes and it’s become a necessity for governments to deal with them.

“The best practice of governments showed partnerships with private companies. Today, a major part of the developments are by the private sector and governments are trying to respond, sometimes very late.”

He touched on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that “we used to think the world had stabilised” with political and co-operation agreements, but instead “here we are facing more question marks than answers”.

He also spoke about how previous government summits in Dubai helped to shed light on future trends.

“Summits have focused on opportunities for government. In 2018, we had a talk about pandemics. The World Health Organisation director spoke about how a pandemic can change governments,” he said.

“The current one affected 480 million people and governments lost tens of trillions of dollars. We saw governments that failed and succeeded.

“We also spoke about cryptocurrency and today governments are trying to live with it. Crypto is worth $2 trillion today.”