UAE to host World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference 2024

The UAE has been selected to host global trade development talks in February 2024.

President Sheikh Mohamed made the announcement on Monday that representatives from 164 countries in the World Trade Organisation will convene in the nation's capital.

In a message posted online, he said that the UAE is honoured to have been selected as the host country for the WTO Ministerial Conference in 2024.

“We look forward to facilitating constructive dialogue between WTO nations and strengthening international co-operation for a sustainable economic future.”

The WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 12 to June 17. It was originally meant to be held in Kazakhstan in 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

Scheduled to end on June 15, the ministerial gathering in Geneva was extended by two days to allow more time for negotiations and for agreements to be reached.

Two proposals were received by the WTO to host the 13th Ministerial Conference, one from the UAE and another from Cameroon.

The last time the conference was held in the Gulf was in 2001 in Doha, which resulted in China being approved as the 143rd member.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also tweeted the news.

“We welcome the participating countries, we welcome the World Trade Organisation, and we support all international moves that guarantee the free flow of goods and services between different countries of the world and protect the future of global trade,” he wrote.

The Ministerial Conference is the topmost decision-making body of the WTO and usually meets every two years.

It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions, and takes decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.

“The 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation reflects the UAE’s status as a key facilitator of trade and investment between all four corners of the world,” said Abdulla Bin Touq, Minister of Economy.

“It is also the culmination of the qualitative leaps that the UAE has achieved in terms of economic growth and diversification over recent decades, which has been central to our bold vision to unleash a new era of sustainable economic development.”

The inaugural Ministerial Conference was held in Singapore in 1996.

Its main purpose was to spark an international effort among global trading nations to restructure the mechanisms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade while preserving the substantial progress made by the system since its inception in 1948.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make

When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.

“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.

This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).

Age	$250 a month	$500 a month	$1,000 a month
25	$640,829	$1,281,657	$2,563,315
35	$303,219	$606,439	$1,212,877
45	$131,596	$263,191	$526,382
55	$44,351	$88,702	$177,403

RESULT

Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)

Kolkata win by 25 runs

Next match

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm

The five stages of early child’s play

From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:

1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.

2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.

3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.

4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.

5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience

by David Gilmour

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