Dubai Charter of Sustainable Development Cities Alliance Signed at World Government Summit 2016

Key representatives of several sister cities and organizations gathered to sign the 'Dubai Charter of Sustainable Development Cities Alliance' seeking to collaboratively achieve the vision of building a sustainable future for Dubai.

The signatories were part of a roundtable session titled "Shaping Future Cities", where implications of an expected rise in the population of Dubai - five million by 2030 - including the depletion of natural resources and increase demand on across all sectors were discussed.

Signatories included Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE, Beirut, Lebanon, Ankara, Turkey, Amman, Jordan, Metropole de Lyon, France, Al Maddinah Province, KSA, Baghdad, Iraq, Manama, Bahrain, Al Rabat, Morocco, Kuwait City, ICMA, India and the Arab Towns Organization.

Additional highlights from the summit include:

• A new MoU has been signed between the United Arab Emirates and Malta in a shared commitment to increasing innovation and efficiency in government. Signed on behalf of the respective nation by the UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Prime Minister of Malta, the agreement also seeks to engage the private sector and the general public in these efforts, and will serve to extend technical support from The Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) to the UAE.
• A new report released by The Economist Corporate Network, the business advisory arm of The Economist Intelligence Unit, urges governments to harness digitization and re-imagine labor markets to drive down unemployment, upskill the workforce, and grow their economies.
• The future of cryptocurrencies means your car will one day be able to bribe other cars to cut through traffic, says Nicolas Carey, co-founder and President of Blockchain, one of the world's leading digital wallet and software providers.
• Member nations can help turn the universal Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030 into reality by incorporating them into comprehensive, integrated national agendas, said His Excellency Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations.
• Not five or ten - expect improvements in Egypt's education, health, transport and housing sectors within three years, said His Excellency Sherif Ismail, Prime Minister of Egypt.