On October 5, 2016, Foreign Affairs hosted a half-day examination of the state of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the challenges facing its economies. More than one hundred investors, businessmen, and government officials were in attendance. For a full agenda, please see below.

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Sponsored Breakfast: Investment Opportunities in Kuwait
Sponsored by Kuwait Projects Company (Holding)

Speaker:
H.E. Sheikh Dr. Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Director General, Kuwait Development and Investment Promotion Authority
H.E. Abdullah Yaqoub Bishara, First Secretary General of the GCC & Chairman, North Africa Holding

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Foreign Affairs Briefing: The Gulf Cooperation Council

Speakers:
Fadel Al Baghli, Chairman, KGL Ports International
Pinak Maitra, Group Chief Financial Officer, KIPCO
Dr. Nadir Mohammed, Director for GCC Countries, Middle East and North Africa, World Bank
Kenneth Pollack, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Moderator: Karen Young, PhD, Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute

10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | The Impact of Oil Prices on Economic Growth and Development

Speakers:
Sara Akbar, Chief Executive Officer, Kuwait Energy
Sheikh Nawaf S. Al-Sabah, Chief Executive Officer, Kuwait  Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC)
Michael Cohen, Head of Energy Commodities Research, Barclay's
Marie Diron, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Rating Group, Moody's
Moderator: Varun Sivaram, Douglas Dillon Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Simultaneous Breakout Sessions

Creating a High Growth, High Diversification Model for Kuwait

Featuring a conversation with Dr. Yousef H. Al-Ebraheem, Economic Advisor to Amiri Diwan

Speakers:
Dr. Bassam Alfeeli, Program Manager, Management Development Enterprises, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences
Bader F. Al-Rezaihan, Chairman and Managing Director, Amwal 
D. James Stamatis, Chief Executive Officer, Louis Berger
Moderator: Karen Young, PhD, Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute

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Silicon Desert: Can Innovation and Entrepreneurship Thrive in Kuwait?

Featuring a conversation with H.E. Sheikh Dr. Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Director General, Kuwait Development and Investment Promotion Authority

Speakers:
H. E. Salim M. Al-Ozainah, Chairman and Chief Executice Officer, Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA)
Eng. Qusai Al-Shatti, Director-General, Central Agency for Information Technology
H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al-Zuhair, Executive Chairman, National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprise Development
Moderator: James P. Duffy IV, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. | Networking Lunch

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | One-on-one meetings and investment roadshow

All photos credit: Don Pollard and Howard Jay Heyman