World Government Summit Discusses AI

The opening session of the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The opening session of the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

World Government Summit Discusses AI

The opening session of the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The opening session of the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The governments' adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies has become inevitable, which is no longer an option, according to the UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Government Summit (WGS) Organization, Mohammad al-Gergawi.

Gergawi is expected to witness an upcoming biological revolution surpassing the technological revolution, and 90 percent of media production would be through AI without human intervention.

During his opening session, "A Decade of Change," on the first day of the 10th WGS, Gergawi touched on the refugee crisis, noting that on November 15, 2022, the world crossed the threshold of eight billion people.

The world will witness a radical change in illiteracy and skills, saying illiterates would be those who can't deal with AI technologies.

The Minister indicated that natural disasters cost humanity about $3 trillion, noting that climate change, which could displace more than 1 billion refugees by 2050, costs a $23 trillion loss for the world.

In his keynote speech at the Summit, the Founder and President of the World Economic Forum (WEF) (Davos), Klaus Schwab, stressed the urgency to develop new mechanisms that strengthen international cooperation in today's multipower world.

Schwab also stressed the need for concerted efforts to implement structural transformations within various strategic sectors, including the economy, technology, and politics, in light of the humanitarian crisis the world is witnessing.

He said technological transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution would impact the world for years.

"Governments in different parts of the world should play leading roles in keeping pace with changes," Schwab said.

Regarding structural transformations to be witnessed in various vital economic sectors, Schwab said there will be about 10 billion people in need of energy by 2050. He stressed the need to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and reach zero carbon emissions.

Schwab pointed to the political changes taking place in the world, which are transforming the globe from a unipolar world to a multipolar world.

Schwab said: "A few years ago, we considered some technologies a science fiction that was difficult to implement, but today it has become a reality that we live through artificial intelligence, new space technology, and industrial biology, which heralds a major change coming during the next ten years, and requires governments to be ambitious in their decisions."

For her part, the director general of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, urged member states to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to crisis-stricken countries and disaster zones to speed the recovery of impacted countries.

Okonjo-Iweala explained that the organization highlighted the importance of accelerating support operations for countries affected by disasters and attributed the decline in trade to global economic shocks.

Concerning trade disputes between member states, Okonjo-Iweala said that 99 percent of the organization's members want to reform the dispute system, which will be accomplished in the future.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
TT

China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.