World Economic Forum summit on global agenda kicks off in Dubai

The World Economic Forum (WEF)'s three-day summit on the global agenda kicked off here on Sunday, with the global outlook for 2015 stating that the world is increasingly strained by global geopolitics and income inequality.
Senior Director and head of global knowledge networks at the WEF, Martina Larkin, who presented the outlook on the global agenda 2015, said the fourth edition identified more complexity, geopolitical volatility, and income inequality.
Geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and in parts of the Middle East remain hot issues, she added.
Persistent jobless growth due to lack of employment and a growing perception among citizens that they are not properly represented by their leaders were among the top issues discussed in the report.
However, Larkin said China's push for more infrastructure investment in Asia is the right step to create jobs and improve income equality.
"Clearly, investment into infrastructure investments are very much needed and they are key to expand many Asian country's development path," she said.
On Saturday, Xi announced that China will commit 40 billion U.S. dollars to the establishment of a Silk Road Fund to finance infrastructure, resources development and industrial cooperation among countries along the "Belt and Road."
Meanwhile, Larkin also said that "for the first time since the annual report was launched back in 2010, health issues for the economy rose to the top 10 trends."
The summit is attended by over 1,000 experts from 83 countries, two heads of state, 12 ministers, and 400 businessmen including 125 top executives from 79 countries.
The annual summit on the global agenda aims to create main topics of discussion for the annual global WEF summit in Davos, Switzerland, which will be held from Jan. 21 to 24, 2015.