DUBAI: Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, Actor Harrison Ford and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri are among the big names attending Dubai’s World Government Summit on Sunday – and there will also be a message broadcast to the conference by Pope Francis.

The annual summit brings together heads of state, Nobel laureates, and thought leaders to tackle a wide variety of global issues and topics that will span across more than 200 sessions.

Harrison Ford is expected to give a 20-minute talk on ocean conservation at the plenary session, while UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan will also give a comment on the pope’s recent historic visit to the Gulf. Hariri will be giving a special session just over a week after Lebanon formed a government after nearly a year of political wrangling.

Khan will speak about his vision for the future of Pakistan and what the country's role in the region and the wider world.

The IMF Chief Christine Lagarde will also be attending. 

According to the UAE’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Future, Mohammed Al Gergawi, this year’s event will focus on seven main topics that include: the future of technology, the future of health and quality of life, the environment and climate change, education and the labor market, trade and international co-operation, societies and politics and information and communication between governments and society.

Apart from the politicians, the summit – in its seventh edition – is also bringing in more than 30 global organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Other than Lebanon’s Hariri, country leaders attending the summit include Estonia’s PM Jüri Ratas and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame.

The summit will begin on Sunday, Feb. 10 and run until Tuesday, Feb. 12 in Dubai.