The 12th edition of the World Governments Summit (WGS) was held from 11-13 February 2025 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments‘, The 2025 Summit aims to inspire and empower the next generation of governments, brought together governments, international organizations, thought leaders and private sector leaders worldwide to foster international cooperation.
- The Summit was led by Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Government of UAE, and Chairman of the World Governments Summit Organisation.
Note: The WGS was established in 2013 under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President (VP) and Prime Minister (PM) of the UAE.
About the WGS 2025:
i.The 2025 Summit addressed 6 thematic conversations namely:
- Effective Governance and Accountability;
- Financing the Future and the Global Economy;
- Climate, Crisis Mitigation, and Resilient Cities;
- Human-centric Futures and Capacity Building;
- Global Health Transformations; and
- Emerging Frontiers and the Future.
ii.The Summit held various ministerial meetings, roundtables, interactive sessions, workshops, and forums to explore key future trends in governance and critical sectors.
- The event features multiple forums, including the Future of Work Forum, Government Experience Exchange Forum, Government Services Forum, Artificial Intelligence Forum, Future of Education Forum, Future of Mobility Forum, and Gender Balance Forum.
iii.The key speakers of the 2025 Summit include Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Google and Alphabet, Indian Former Tennis Player Leander Paes, Elon Musk, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors, and others.
India’s Participation at WGS 2025:
i.Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), represented India at the WGS 2025. He participated in 2 major sessions:
1.High-Level Roundtable (HLR) on the Future of Mobility
2.XDGs 2045 (the next global development agenda) Ministerial Roundtable
ii.Bhupender Yadav’s participation in the Ministerial Roundtable highlights 2 crucial challenges for developing nations:
- The need for Capacity Building (CB) in clean technology and infrastructure
- The importance of securing adequate financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation
iii.His address at the HLR on the Future of Mobility indicated several major policy initiatives focused on sustainable mobility and manufacturing.
India’s Major Transportation & EV Initiatives:
i.A new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy offering incentives to attract global EV investments and establish India as a manufacturing hub.
ii.The Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) incentive scheme worth USD 1.3 billion to promote EVs.
iii.The PM Electric Bus (e-Bus) Seva Scheme aims to deploy 10,000 e-buses nationwide.
iv.12% growth in India’s mobility industry over the past year.
Climate & Energy Goals of India:
i.Reaffirmation of India’s goal to achieve net zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2070
ii.The National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) with Rs 19,000 crore investment, India aims to produce 5 Million Metric Tons (MMT) of Green Hydrogen (GH) annually by 2030.
iii.National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (NMSH) and NGHM lead to reducing GHG emissions in urban areas of India.
Manufacturing Focus of India:
i.Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 25,000 crores, aims to boost the domestic manufacturing of advanced automotive technology products.
ii.SemiCon India program with an outlay of Rs. 76,000 crores to develop a domestic semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem.
About the WGS awards program:
i.The WGS awards program recognises the outstanding achievements of ministers, businesses, and innovators who utilise new technologies and build critical partnerships to address global challenges and advance governance and society.
ii.The awards include: Global Best M-Gov Award, The GovTech Prize, Best Minister Award, World Data Visualization Prize, Shaping Future Governments and Edge of Government.
Indian Students Won Bronze at Global Best M-Gov Award 2025 :
3 Indian computer science students Sagar Teotia (Team Lead), Abhinav Mishra, and Anushka Singh from the Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology (MAIT), New Delhi (Delhi) secured the Bronze Award at the Global Best M-Gov Award 2025 during the WGS 2025 in Dubai.
- This award highlights the pioneering role of universities and youth in addressing local and global challenges and building a better world.
i.The award and a cash prize of USD 10,000 was presented to the 3 students by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the UAE during the WGS 2025 summit.
ii.Recognition: They were recognised for their Application (App) AccessWay, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered platform that integrates Augmented Reality (AR), AI, and crowdsourced data to provide accessible navigation, social connections, and emergency tools for individuals with disabilities.
