The Middle East: Present and Future — Perspectives from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

RUNDOWN
Session 1: ASHK President’s Circle Members only
17:00 (HKT) / 11:00 (Paris) Start
17:45 (HKT) / 11:45 (Paris) Close

Session 2: Public Presentation
17:45 (HKT) / 11:45 (Paris) Start
18:30 (HKT) / 12:30 (Paris) Close

Asia Society Hong Kong Center is proud to present the Chairman’s Dialogue Series, a specially curated series of marquee events bringing together distinguished guests from around the world for conversations with Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Asia Society Hong Kong Center. In this conversation, Mr. Chan will be joined by His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Turki Al Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Founder and Trustee of the King Faisal Foundation and Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. This program will explore the present and future of the Middle East from the perspective of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia (KSA).

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest economies in the Middle East, primarily driven by crude petroleum and natural gas activities. Meanwhile, since 2016, Saudi Arabia, has been undergoing significant change and transformation to support diversification of the economy away from oil, which is a primary economic object of the KSA’s Vision 2030. The vision not only impacts domestic policies, but the Middle East region in general. Questions will be explored including: How has Saudi Arabia transformed from both an economic and policy standpoint over the last 50 years? What is HRH’s vision for KSA as well as the region? What do the next 50 years look like for KSA? What are the interests of major powers such as the U.S., Russia, EU and China for the Middle East region? How does the present Ukraine war impact not only KSA but the entire Middle East region?

His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Turki AlFaisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is the Founder and Trustee of the King Faisal Foundation and Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. HRH served as the Advisor at the Royal Court and as the Director-General of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), heading Saudi Arabia’s main foreign intelligence service as Minister until 2001. HRH also served as the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, as well as the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States of America. HRH has been an active participant to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, the Global Economic Symposium, and the Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting. HRH was a commissioner for the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, a joint initiative of the Australian and Japanese Governments. HRH was awarded Afghanistan’s highest honors, the Ghazi Mir Bacha Khan Medal, and a recipient of the Mediterranean Award for Diplomacy from the Fondazione Mediterraneo. HRH has served on the advisory bodies of several universities, institutes and think tanks, which include: the University of Oxford, Georgetown University, Trustees of the Library of Alexandria, the Beirut Institute, Trustees of the Council of Arab and International Relations, Directors of Al-Quds Fund and Endowment, the Munich Security Conference, Trustees of the Asia Society and Think20. 

Ronnie C. Chan is the Chair of Hang Lung Group Limited and its subsidiary Hang Lung Properties Limited, both publicly listed in Hong Kong. The Group expanded into mainland China in 1992, developing, owning and managing world-class commercial complexes in key tier one and tier two cities. He founded and chairs the China Heritage Fund, is a co-founding Director of The Forbidden City Cultural Heritage Conservation Foundation in Beijing, and is former Vice President and former Advisor of the China Development Research Foundation in Beijing. Mr. Chan is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Chair Emeritus of the Asia Society and Chairman of its Hong Kong Center, and Co-Founder and Chairman of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society. He serves or has served on the governing or advisory bodies of several think tanks and universities, which include: Peterson Institute for International Economics, World Economic Forum, East-West Center, Pacific Council on International Policy, Eisenhower Fellowships, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, University of Southern California, Indian School of Business, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Yale University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University.

Sponsor

Friends of Asia Society

The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and participants and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, do not reflect the opinion, position or official policy of Asia Society Hong Kong, its members, or its committees. Asia Society Hong Kong does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for the content of the information presented.