The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the financial and business hub connecting the region’s emerging markets with the developed markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas, will host the first DIFC Forum, focusing on “The Shifting Centre of Gravity” in global trade and economics. The forum is also taking place in association with Deutsche Bank and Emirates as the official airline. The primary focus of the forum is to explore the implications of a number of seismic shifts of power in world trade, economics and politics. International business leaders from East and South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and beyond will be in attendance on Wednesday, where they will examine the opportunities and challenges posed by such changes. In particular they will explore the increasing importance of trade between India and China and the Middle East; the effect that regulatory changes in mature markets will have on global financial services. Referring to the forum, Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and President of the DIFC, said: “Dubai provides the ideal setting to examine the challenges and opportunities that the global business community faces in these unprecedented times.” From Gulf Today