The annual World Free Zones Organization (World FZO) World Congress has announced the official lineup of key speakers for its 10th edition, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The event will take place at Madinat Jumeirah Conference and Events Centre from 23-25 September.

The Congress will commence with ‘The Ministerial Meeting’. Participants include His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade; His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Chairman of the World FZO; His Excellency Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The official opening ceremony of the congress on the second day will feature keynote addresses by His Excellency Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy; His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Chairman of World FZO; Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor of Germany; Jim Snabe, Chairman of Siemens; Martin Pedersen, Chairman IFZA; and John Defterios, former CNN Emerging Markets Editor.

The Congress will feature sessions including ‘The Future of Logistics,’ with Radu Dinescu, President of International Road Transport Union (IRU), and Dr. Holger Bingmann, Vice President of France’s ICC. ‘The Future of Access to Finance,’ will include Dr. Sidi Ould Taha, Director General of BADEA; Santiago Rojas Arroyo, Regional Director of IDB; Professor Chi Fulin, Director of the China-Arab Studies Center; and Ismail Ersahin, CEO of WAIPA.

 ‘The Future of Energy’ will include Joseph McMonigle, Secretary General of the International Energy Forum; Eng. Nawal Yousif Alhanaee, Director of the Future Energy Department at the UAE Ministry of Energy; Dr. Hasan Shafi, Partner at EY-Parthenon; and Corey Gray, President of the Smart Cities Council (SCC).

'The Future of Manufacturing,' participants include His Excellency Manuel Tovar Rivera, Minister of Foreign Trade of the Republic of Costa Rica; Badr Salim Sultan Al Olama, Acting Director General - Abu Dhabi Investment Office; and Steven Spence Marshall, former Premier of South Australia.

‘The Future of Digital’, key participants include Dr. Jean-Michel Mrusek, former CEO Knorr-Bremse, Siemens Digital Factory, and Siemens Energy Management in Germany; Hazem Jalal, Senior Partner at PwC; Dr. Akram Nour, Chief Digital Transformation at ECSZA; and Richard Bolwijn, Director-Investment Research at UNCTAD.