Saudi Arabia joins Global Innovation Summit in Kuala Lumpur

A Saudi delegation attended the Global Innovation Summit (GIS 2017) in Kuala Lumpur, which ended on Friday.
The Kingdom participated in meetings of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) and the GIS 2017, launched in the Malaysian capital on Wednesday.
GFCC representatives were joined by international non-profit research centers, universities and leading investment companies from around the world, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Ayedh Al-Otaibi, deputy governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority for Developing the Investment Environment, addressed the opening session of the summit on the topic of “how global transformation will shape our future.”
Al-Otaibi reviewed the efforts being made in creating a more competitive business environment to stimulate the growth and prosperity of the Saudi private sector in local and foreign areas. The session discussed how the world is experiencing a time of unprecedented transformation, with technologies disrupting business, work, society and life.
It found that the global landscape was not short of challenges: Climate and demographic change, urbanization and increased connectivity meant a need for new solutions to build sustainable business models, economies and societies.
The other session highlighted how technology is reshaping business across industries and sectors, from manufacturing to food production and logistics to energy. It is enabling new business models and allowing for a huge boost in resource use and efficiency.
The GIS, the GFCC’s flagship event organized in conjunction with the annual meeting, convenes high-level leaders from business, government, academia, civil society and global think tanks for discussions on the state of global competitiveness and ways to enhance innovation capacity worldwide.
Since its inception, the GIS has been held in the US (2010), Brazil (2011), the UAE (2012), South Korea (2013), Canada (2014), Saudi Arabia (2015) and the UK (2016).