Knowledge Summit 2025

Your Highness, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum,

His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, CEO of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation,

Dr. Abdallah al Dardari, Assistant Secretary-General at UNDP,

Distinguished guests, dear friends,

Knowledge is what allows humans to escape the bind of circumstance. Without it, we can only inherit the world as we find it. With it, we can shape it.

For ten years, this summit has been built on that conviction, in a city and a country that are living, shining proof of the power of that conviction.

I want to thank the United Arab Emirates for their vision, and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation for its solid commitment. It is to be praised, particularly now, when multilateralism is under strain, when you see long-term support from a partner that does not follow low-hanging fruit but builds on the pursuit of an idea. Through a strong and strategic partnership with the United Nations, the UAE has played a central role in championing learning, innovation, and human development worldwide.

My praise also goes to my colleagues at UNDP for this platform, which has been growing in its reach and scope. Building something that lasts a decade requires more than good intentions – it requires institutional commitment, patient investment and the courage to believe that ideas matter enough to warrant their own space. Today, ten years later, you have given the world that space and an inspirational example.

Excellencies,

We gather at a moment of contest in a world where contradictory forces coexist. Global trade is growing at 5% year-on-year, yet investment flows are retreating. Three-quarters of global economic growth comes from the Global South, yet 3.4 billion people live in countries spending more on debt service than on health or education. Frontier technologies will add more than $10 trillion to the world economy in the next decade, yet 2.6 billion people remain offline.

This summit's theme – knowledge markets – responds to that complexity. In complex times, only complexity can save us. And knowledge is how we master complexity. It is how we are able to understand without falling into false assumptions.

Knowledge has a unique quality: it multiplies when shared rather than depleting. Markets are humanity's most powerful tool for spreading it quickly and efficiently. But markets need direction. They need the visible hand of policy alongside the invisible hand of exchange – to ensure knowledge flows where it creates the greatest development impact, not just the greatest commercial return.

Over the past decade, the United Arab Emirates has shown exemplary leadership and deep commitment to advancing knowledge as a global public good. Together with UNDP, this partnership has strengthened knowledge ecosystems, empowered young people and expanded access to the skills needed to navigate an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world.

This is why gatherings like this one matter. Over these two days, share insights, challenge assumptions, forge partnerships. The knowledge you leave with will be more than the knowledge you brought. I look forward to sharing and learning from you.

I thank you.