Global Mobility Call Invites MENA To Show The Way To A Sustainable Mobility Future

Global Mobility Call, the first world-class sustainable mobility event, was introduced today to business and institutional leaders gathering for the opening of the Travel and Connectivity Week at Expo Dubai. Spain's Mobility Minister and IFEMA MADRID, one of Europe's leading congress operators, urged MENA leaders to show the way to a sustainable mobility future. 

MENA is one of the fastest-changing regions, leading major global energy and environmental shifts together with deep socio-economic changes, all disrupted by the challenges the pandemic is posing to citizens' lives and mobility and to the trade of goods.

In this context and after the international presentations at COP26 in Glasgow, and in Paris in December, Global Mobility Call arrived in the United Arab Emirates, to engage with leading companies involved in the development of safe, inclusive, connected and sustainable mobility in the region.

Global Mobility Call is aimed at becoming the world's most important event for sustainable mobility in the context of the economic and social recovery following the pandemic. Organized by IFEMA MADRID and Smobhub on 14-16 June 2022, Global Mobility Call will bring together leaders across all sectors involved in the development of sustainable mobility policies and business initiatives.

"Here in Dubai and many cities in the region, we see exciting initiatives that are revolutionising the way we move. But the truth is that there's no clear leadership at the global level, neither shared strategies nor a common space for debate," said Eduardo López-Puertas, Managing Director IFEMA MADRID.

"Global Mobility Call, will offer the opportunity for visionary leaders to fill this vacuum, shape the narrative and interconnect strategies to collectively define the new sustainable mobility ecosystem," he added.

"From the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda we want to show Spain's leadership in connectivity. We are promoting a new concept of mobility for the present and the future: safe, sustainable and connected mobility, as set out in our Strategy, recently approved by the Spanish Government, in which society actively participates, which is a lever for social and territorial cohesion and which drives innovation," said Spain's Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez Jiménez.

"Transforming the mobility systems requires sharing experiences and knowledge, building collaborative networks, increasing awareness and fostering innovation with public-private partnerships as a cornerstone. In Spain, we have both the momentum and the experience to become an international reference. Global Mobility Call will be a 360-degree global stage to showcase and drive this great transformation towards sustainability. I invite our partners and all mobility actors in the MENA region to join the movement," said María José Rallo, General Secretary of Transport and Mobility of the Government of Spain.

A round table about "The Need to Accelerate the Transformation towards Sustainable Mobility. Successful case studies: Dubai & Global Mobility Call" brought together Emirati multinational logistics company DP World, Spanish global information technology company INDRA and Spanish leading multinational in clean energy Iberdrola. 

"Electrification of transport is a critical element to achieve COP26's ambitious goals for decarbonization. Iberdrola is delivering on its Global Mobility Plan to install 150,000 charging points by 2025. We aim to lead public charging networks in core countries by investing over EUR 150 million in mainly fast-charging stations," said Santiago Bañales, Managing Director of Iberdrola Innovation Middle East.

"We also expect to leverage our global expertise and contribute to the deployment of mobility solutions in the Middle East, building upon our large history of open innovation with public and private entities in the region led by our Iberdrola Innovation Middle East centre," he added.

Alex Moya, General Manager INDRA UAE, global company in information technology solutions for Transport, Air Traffic and Defence, said that "technology is central for achieving a new mobility ecosystem that puts people at the centre, and that is more sustainable, safer, smarter and better connected."

"Digitalisation, data and the integration of public and private transport management are the keys to this unprecedented shift in the mobility model. But for this to happen, technological change must be accompanied by a major cultural change, a regulatory transformation and the promotion of public-private partnerships," he added.