Topics on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Artificial Intelligence dominated discussions in the fifth edition of the Sharjah Foreign Direct Investment Forum, 2019. Participants in the forum stressed the importance of applying these trends in the process of stimulating foreign investments and attracting capital. Ruler of Sharjah Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, Supreme Council member, inaugurated the forum on Monday under the theme “Future Trends in Foreign Direct Investment.” The forum aims at addressing the changes faced by the global economy through a series of factors that constitute the main drivers of future investment trends. These include applications of the fourth industrial revolution, environmental sustainability and renewable energy, the future of financial technology, sources of finance to accelerate the companies’ sustainable growth, the future of digital technologies and their impact on the global economy and the future of education and rehabilitation cadres to promote digital growth. The fifth edition of the annual event has attracted more than 54 corporate business leaders, public sector representatives and government officials from across the region and the world, and 1,500 participants. All will attend 12 sessions, including eight dialogue sessions, four private sessions, five workshops and a Dubai Financial Market (DFM) forum on the IPO. UAE Minister of Economy Eng. Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said his country has attained a good rise in the cumulative foreign investment balance by the end of 2018, which exceeded $140.3 billion by eight percent. He added that the UAE was ranked the second place globally in signing of international bilateral investment agreements, and third in the world with regard to new FDI projects announced. Referring to the forum’s theme, the Minister highlighted that advancing the UAE’s digital economy was among the top KPIs for UAE Vision 2021 as well as that of 2071. “The 2018 FDI law offered us a big jump in FDI inflows. We attracted more than 122 foreign direct investments in a variety of sectors including agriculture, renewable energy, and others.” Over the past 20 years, the world has witnessed rapid and qualitative leaps due to the progressive development of technologies, said Marwan bin Jassim al-Sarkal, executive chairman of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq).