In an era of increasing pressure on governments to streamline their outlays in public expenditure and create jobs in the private sector for a generation of young citizens, Dubai has used its tradition as a nexus city to invite new business and new ways of capitalizing on the skills of both citizens and expatriates to create growth. Dubai’s non-oil GDP speaks to this transformation, which has been underway for some time. What lessons can Dubai offer to its GCC neighbors on harnessing creativity, innovation, and growth? What have the local mechanisms of financial governance revealed about the potential of debt markets? How does Dubai manage competition between state and private entities? And what is the emirate’s vision regarding state infrastructure investment?

AGSIW was pleased to co-host, with the U.S.-UAE Business Council, H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for a conversation on these issues and more.