On the last day of the World Government Summit Dialogues in Dubai, the president and chief executive officer of Siemens Energy, Dr. Christian Bruch opined that the global crisis is a wake-up call for the energy sector to organize its action for an equitable future.
Dr. Bruch urged global energy players and governments to join their hands and urgently gain knowledge from the pandemic to rebuild a more equitable energy infrastructure for the next decade. There is an inequality existing in several parts of the energy sector which is causing concern.
Dr. Christian Bruch President & CEO Siemens Energy
“You see a pretty divided world. On one side, there is sufficient capital in the world, and it is a question of how to deploy it. There is a lot of uncertainty, this balance of investing somewhere, giving people access to electricity and energy, how is this working out? One thing is clear, the old mechanisms are not going to work.”
As the world moves towards a renewable energy concept and more oil companies titling themselves as ‘energy companies’, Dr. Bruch noted that the current energy transitions need to cut across sectors and technologies, or else the world will confront the risk of living in a renewable bubble that does not really achieve long-term returns.
In another session at the dialogue, Dr.Parag Khanna, founder and managing partner of data firm FutureMap, pointed out the inevitable global economic shift towards Asia which is currently going on, highlighting the importance of learning from the successes of the UAE and Dubai, which have become a role model in smart transformation.
“Despite the unprecedented challenges the world has witnessed in 2020, Asian economies have recovered far more quickly than others. Asia managed the pandemic with far greater resilience and agility than many countries of the world, confirming that Asia is the new hub of the global economy,” Dr. Khanna stated.
The UAE has developed a knowledge-based economy and established global benchmarks to build a bright future for its people by strengthening smart and innovative technologies to shape an advanced digital infrastructure.
The new trend of increasing connectivity between West and East Asia is expected to survive the pandemic. “I call this the Iron and Silk Road, or the Digital Silk Road or the Green Silk Road. It includes all the new kinds of commerce and exchange, from energy to transportation to finance to infrastructure to services, the movement of people and workers,” Dr. Khanna added.
