Over two days there will be discussion panels on renewable energy, the new age of consumerism, and the future of banking DUBAI: Thought leaders and decision-makers will meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to thrash out solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. More than 1,000 business executives, investors, government officials and philanthropists will discuss trade, capital markets, financial inclusion, food security, job creation and gender parity at the Milken Institute’s 2020 Middle East and Africa Summit. Over two days there will be discussion panels on renewable energy, the new age of consumerism, the future of banking, the convergence of big tech and national security, workforce development and entrepreneurial investment. Speakers include Mariam Almheiri, UAE minister of state for food security; Paul Ryan, the former US House of Representatives Speaker; Dina Powell of Goldman Sachs; Raymond Dalio of Bridgewater Associates; and Mohammed Al-Shaya of AlShaya Group. Michael Milken, chairman of the Milken Institute, an economic think tank in California, will take part in discussions with Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, head of the Mubadala Investment Company, and Rajeev Misra, chief executive of SoftBank Investment Advisers. Summit delegates will review the Global Opportunity Index report, a Milken Institute annual assessment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries’ development in 2019. The report considers economic and financial factors that influence foreign investment activities, as well as business, legal and regulatory policies that governments use to drive investment. It also compares the Gulf states’ performance with those of upper-middle-income countries, and their performance on economic fundamentals, financial services, business perception, institutional framework, and international standards and policy.