IQO will certify the myriad of accountancy qualifications worldwide, and in line with WTO objectives will make the export of accounting services across borders a more practical reality. This part of the world represents five per cent of the global population, and 10 per cent of its land, but its share of drinkable water is only 0.5 per cent - one tenth of what its per capita share should be. It is estimated that by the year 2025 we will be below the water poverty limit. The Arab World is threatened by this. A worsening of the water problem means a worsening of the food problem, the trade balance, GNP and, ultimately, unemployment.
Technology is part of the answer.
The Gulf produces 60 per cent of desalinated water globally, yet in an outdated and expensive way. This prompted my call, most recently at the World Water Conference in Washington DC, to better our desalination technology. We already know, after all, that sea water covers two thirds of the globe, and accounts for 97 per cent of its water. In my opinion the right to drink and eat is as important as the right to speak out freely. Inevitably talk moves on to the oil price crisis, a favourite topic in Abu Dhabi today.