Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Opens Seamless Middle East 2025 To Advance Digital Economy Initiatives

The Conference and Exhibition for Digital Economy Technologies, "Seamless Middle East 2025," was inaugurated by H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. Held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 20 to 22, the event is under the patronage of the Arab League. It gathers senior officials and experts in the global digital economy.

H.H. Sheikh Saif also witnessed the launch of the Arab Federation for Digital Economy's strategic plan for 2025-2030. This initiative is under President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's patronage. The conference underscores the UAE's dedication to leading regional digital transformation efforts sustainably and comprehensively.

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The Arab Federation for Digital Economy has introduced its strategic plan for 2025-2030, aiming to enhance global digital transformation efforts. The plan focuses on strengthening digital infrastructure, harmonising regional policies, developing technical skills, and promoting innovation across sectors. Dr. Ali Mohammed Al Khouri stated that this plan will guide the Federation’s operations with actionable programmes.

Dr. Al Khouri remarked: "The coming phase demands institutional structures that are capable of long-term planning and that foster productive collaboration among governments, industry, and academia. This environment will help create scalable digital solutions that broaden economic diversification, optimize resource use, and unlock new prospects for future generations."

A strategic partnership between the Arab Federation for Digital Economy and China aims to accelerate projects under the Arab Digital Economy Vision. Approved at the 2022 Arab Leaders Summit in Algeria, this collaboration seeks to enhance digital transformation through joint initiatives in AI, big data, IoT, smart cities, and sector-specific solutions.

This partnership establishes a model for regional cooperation in smart manufacturing and industrial innovation. It includes joint ventures and training programmes to equip Arab youth with essential technical skills for the emerging digital economy. The UAE serves as a hub for these projects due to its advanced infrastructure.

Event Highlights

The event features over 800 speakers across 200 panel discussions and 70 workshops. More than 30,000 participants from public and private sectors attended alongside 750 exhibiting companies and over 5,000 international guests. Visitors praised the organisation and showcased technologies from startups and global institutions.

The exhibition highlighted innovations in digital payments, e-commerce, smart retail, FinTech, digital identity systems, banking solutions, and logistics services. These advancements underscore the pace of digital transformation in vital sectors.

Awards Ceremony

During "Seamless Middle East 2025," winners of the second edition of the Arab Digital Economy Award were honoured by Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. This award recognises influential figures contributing to digital transformation across the Arab world.

Engineer Atef Helmy received recognition in Leadership for his contributions to Egypt's digital infrastructure development. The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority was honoured for advancing AI and national infrastructure while Qatar's Ministry of Communications was awarded for implementing national strategies.

Arab Vision for Digital Economy

The conference aligns with the "Arab Vision for Digital Economy," launched in Abu Dhabi in 2018 with support from President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Adopted during the 2022 Arab Leaders Summit, it brings together representatives from international bodies like UN and World Bank alongside major corporations.

This initiative promotes advanced technologies' role in supporting sustainable economic development across regions through knowledge exchange among policymakers, experts, innovators exploring future revolutions within this field.

Future Prospects

The strategic plan includes developing an "Arab Digital Economy Index" as a benchmark evaluating nations' progress annually while offering tailored recommendations based on quantitative indicators tracking transformations nationally regionally alike.

This index supports initiatives like "Digital Education Platform," expanding operational capacity after pilot phases completed several countries; projects such as "Arab Food Market" digitising supply chains; modernising agriculture via "Mahaseel"; updating investment maps driving investments maximising economic value initiatives furthering platforms launched previously by Federation past years.

With inputs from WAM