Plan to increase Gulf investment with artificial intelligence to hundreds of billions in 2030

The Secretary -General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Jassem Mohamed Al -Badawi, stressed that artificial intelligence is no longer an intellectual luxury or an academic dialogue confined to the universities halls, but rather has become a key element in our daily life; He directs decisions, affects economies, reshapes the patterns of work, production and methods of communication between individuals and societies. It opens spacious horizons in vital sectors such as health, education, economics and services, but these gains are accompanied by major challenges that impose on legislative councils a double responsibility.

Al -Badawi said, during his speech at the Legislative Parliamentary Forum on best legislative practices in the field of artificial intelligence 2025, which is organized by the Federal National Council: “The countries of the Cooperation Council have given increasing interest in the artificial intelligence sector, in recognition of its pivotal role in shaping the features of the new global economy, and it is estimated that the investments of the GCC countries in this sector have reached tens of billions of dollars during the few years The past, with ambitious plans to increase these investments to hundreds of billions by 2030, reflects the strategic trend of our countries towards building a knowledge economy based on innovation and advanced technologies, and enhancing the region’s position as a leading global center in this field.

He added: “Here the role of the legislation in building renewed legal frameworks highlights the balance between two basic matters: the first is to encourage innovation and openness to development, and the second is the protection of rights and the preservation of human and societal values,” noting that the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council is keen to build fruitful partnerships with regional and international centers in the field of artificial intelligence, including: the International Center for Research and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Ethics affiliated For the Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as cooperation with leading international organizations such as WIPO and the International Organization for Standards.

Al -Badawi pointed out that the General Secretariat, with the approval of the Ministerial Committee of the Digital Government, initiated the formation of a team concerned with artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in June 2021 AD, works to support research and development between the GCC countries in this field, improving government digital services, and creating a flexible organizational and legislative environment that responds to the requirements of the future, and a number of accomplishments have been reached in the forefront of which is the guiding guide for the ethics of the use of intelligence Artificial, and the general framework to support artificial intelligence applications in public services, in addition to the general framework of climate predicament and disaster management using artificial intelligence, while work is done to prepare a unified Gulf guide strategy for artificial intelligence

Al -Badawi continued: “Despite all these efforts and achievements, the challenges still exist, the most prominent of which is the absence of unified legislative standards, issues of personal data protection, in addition to the possibility of exploiting artificial intelligence in harmful activities or electronic attacks.” Stressing that the future carries promising opportunities if we do well -managed this transformation, as balanced legislation can make artificial intelligence a tributary to sustainable development, a tool to enhance social justice, and a way to raise the efficiency of governmental and private institutions alike.