DUBAI: This year’s World Government Summit will be the largest in the event’s history, said Mohammad Al-Gergawi, the WGS foundation’s chairman, on Friday.

Speaking at an event at the Museum of the Future, Al-Gergawi said 35 heads of state and government officials have confirmed their attendance, including Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and Switzerland’s President Guy Parmelin.

The WGS is an annual event held in Dubai which explores governance, and focuses on harnessing innovation and technology to solve universal challenges facing humanity.

Al-Gergawi said 24 side events would take place during the summit including forums on artificial intelligence, education, and sustainability.

Over 35 ministerial meetings are on the program including the Ministerial Roundtable with Arab Youth Ministers, Future of Tourism Roundtable, and Sustainable Development Goals Global Council Launch.

Al-Gergawi said four honors would be awarded during the summit, for best minister, most reformed government, sustainability, and best teacher.

He added that the world’s largest global gathering of Nobel laureates would take place during the summit.

“The World Laureate Summit aims to host a platform for laureates to present scientific solutions for problems governments are facing and will invite 50 laureates from various disciplines,” he explained.

Al-Gergawi said the WGS aims to play a key role in boosting collaboration between the private and public sectors.

“The success of the summit depends on the presence of governments, international organizations and the sector that shapes the future, the private sector,” he said.

“The success of the summit is directly linked to partnerships. Each partnership and initiative launched contributes to overcoming challenges in the future,” he added.

“The World Government Summit gathers everyone because the challenges of the future cannot be tackled alone,” Al-Gergawi said.

The summit takes place at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah from Feb. 3 to 5.