Event to Outline Roadmap for Knowledge Development in Region             

Dubai: 22 October, 2007 - The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation today announced it will host the Knowledge Conference in Dubai, bringing together prominent Arab thinkers and experts in human capital development to help promote knowledge-based societies in the region.

The two-day conference, which opens on October 28, will analyse key challenges and opportunities for knowledge development in the Arab World.

Through 15 focused sessions, key decision makers and opinion shapers will debate on educational reform, knowledge transfer, scientific research, cultural diversification, illiteracy, the brain drain, publishing and translation. It will also highlight the gap between education and market requirements in the region.

The Dubai conference will be the first initiative for the Foundation, which was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice–President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, earlier this year. With a personal endowment of US$10 billion, it seeks to build an intellectual infrastructure and create a new generation of knowledge leaders in the region.

H.E. Mohammed Al Gergawi, Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, has urged leaders of knowledge based organisations to support the Foundation's efforts in promoting knowledge development in the region.

Al Gergawi said: "The discussions of this select gathering of highly acclaimed thinkers and experts will usher in a new era of inter-Arab dialogue and act as a catalyst for regional knowledge development.”

"Knowledge is a pre-requisite for countries to create new opportunities and effectively implement development programmes. It is also crucial to identify opportunities to build on the region's economic and social strengths. This will promote innovation and creativity as a lifestyle into a knowledge-based economy.”

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation aims to elevate research, knowledge creation and the infrastructure of higher education to international standards and stimulate employment and entrepreneurship and empower young people to innovate. It also strives to promote, recognize and reinstate the status of culture, heritage and cross-cultural understanding in the region.