Forum founding

The Gulf Development Forum is a gathering of a number of intellectuals interested in development issues from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The first beginning of the forum dates back to December 1979, a symposium entitled “Development in the oil-producing countries of the Arabian Peninsula”, which was held in Abu Dhabi, generously hosted by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority at the time. This meeting, with the participation of ninety people from the region, discussed a study prepared by Dr. Ali Khalifa al-Kuwari, one of the founding members of the forum, on “the efficient performance of public projects in the oil-producing countries of the Arabian Peninsula”. After a number of meetings, in which studies on development related to the Gulf states were presented, the members of the 1986 symposium agreed to change its name to the Development Forum, and set an organizational framework for the forum’s work, which is still in place since that time.