In its ongoing commitment to provide intelligent market analysis for the region in a frank and open forum, Economist Conferences, part of The Economist Group, hosted "The World In 2011" conference in Abu Dhabi today. This important event for senior international business people brought together international and local experts to identify economic and socio-political trends that will shape the world in 2011, and assess the implications – and opportunities – for the Middle East.
Regarding 2011, Robert Ward, Country Publishing Director at Economist Intelligence Unit, said today: "Expect more volatility as the developed world experiments with more unorthodox policy on the one hand and fiscal austerity on the other. The emerging world will, as it did this year, take its cue partly from China, which will come under continued pressure to revalue its currency, while trying to hold inflation down. As in 2010, in 2011 growth in the emerging world will outpace that in the developed world by a significant margin, even though the pace of expansion will be slower than it was this year."
Speakers at this year's forum included Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, Founder and Chairman, Barjeel Securities and Managing Director, Al Saud Company; Gary Dugan, Chief Investment Officer, Private Banking, Emirates NBD; John Barry, Managing Director, Shell Abu Dhabi; Tarik Yousef, Dean, Dubai School of Government; Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, Professor of Political Science, Emirates University and Hossam El Sokkari, Head of Audience, Yahoo! Middle East.
