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Expand North Star 2025 by GITEX GLOBAL opens today, celebrating ten years of startup innovation with its biggest edition yet

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GITEX GLOBAL

Expand North Star by GITEX GLOBAL (https://ExpandNorthStar.com) is officially underway in the UAE as the world’s largest startup and investor connector event launched its landmark 10th anniversary in thrilling fashion on Sunday alongside thousands of local and international visitors.

Organised by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), and hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, Expand North Star 2025 runs at Dubai Harbour from 12-15 October – convening leading founders, investors, entrepreneurs, business executives, and strategic public-private partners from across the globe. Its four-day programme is poised to elevate funding, scaling, and deal-flow levels – catalysing new partnerships and driving inclusive digital growth across emerging AI economies.

The UAE: Charting a Course to Global Startup Supremacy  

Since debuting in 2016, Expand North Star has become an epicentre of collaboration and investment – providing an inclusive global platform from which 8,000+ founders have scaled their businesses over the years. Building on this success, the 2025 edition connects over 2,000 of the world’s most disruptive startups with 1,200 international investors managing US$1.1 trillion in assets.

With the highest percentage of growth and late-stage startups anywhere, the event showcases the most disruptive solutions and projects spanning AI, climate tech, deep tech, digital health, and fintech. This follows the recently announced ‘The Emirates: The Startup Capital of the World’, a new initiative aimed at positioning the UAE as the world’s leading startup hub.

Reflecting the government’s ambition to foster innovation and attract global talent, the initiative aims to generate 30,000 new jobs by 2030 and create at least 10 unicorns – companies with valuations exceeding US$1 billion – by 2031.

Discussing the UAE’s AI strategy and vision during a keynote address, His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, stated: “We don’t think like other countries; we think in multidecade intervals. We started investing in AI in 2008 – very early days. Abu Dhabi was investing in chips, in global countries, in companies that were focused on AI. Nobody expected that we could be a key player in the domain of AI. Against all odds, we are proving that we can. This is going to incentivise everyone – East and West.

H.E. Al Olama added: “It’s important for us to not only succeed, but for everyone who comes to the UAE to help us understand what we can do better. We do not claim to know it all – we claim to be the best students and the best listeners. One thing we promise is that if people come to us with advice, we are going to take it seriously and ensure that it’s implemented in the coming years.”

During a session titled ‘Scaling a digital future: How will emerging tech redraw the startup map of the next decade’, Hatem Dowidar, Global CEO of e&, said: “As the landscape evolves and technology and customer needs change, we may also see pivots and potential changes in companies’ investment criteria. There’s also 5G standalone – or 5.5G – this is something certain to enable a lot of new businesses, including startups. We also have to make sure that we are governing AI in the proper way to ensure data integrity and privacy. For example, within our ecosystem, we have implemented a full AI governance system that ensures data anonymity and customer privacy.”

The Presight AI-Startup Accelerator: A Springboard to Real Business and Global Reach  

As the landscape evolves and technology and customer needs change, we may also see pivots and potential changes in companies’ investment criteria

Among the UAE’s most celebrated enterprises participating is Presight, a G42 company and the region’s largest big data analytics company. One year on from the 2024 edition – where the Presight AI-Startup Accelerator was launched to nurture and accelerate early-stage ventures – the programme’s first cohorts with market-ready prototypes were unveiled.

The Presight AI-Startup Accelerator is the UAE’s first dedicated AI acceleration programme and the first created by a publicly-listed Middle Eastern technology company, leveraging Presight’s technical expertise, enterprise partnerships, and customer ecosystem to provide startups with direct commercial pathways and access to world-class infrastructure and mentorship opportunities.

Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Presight, revealed: “There are many accelerator programmes around the world, but what’s different about ours is that we are creating a global platform. The UAE and Abu Dhabi has become the AI capital – and this is where technology and innovation meets. With G42’s ecosystem and the UAE’s reach, we offer our cohorts not only compute and expertise – but real business. And since then, they have met ambassadors, enterprises, and key stakeholders from the public and private sectors.”

The showcase underscored Presight’s growing influence in propelling the UAE’s AI innovation landscape, featuring 10 high-potential startups from around the world developing AI solutions with real-world impact.

Pramotedham’s participation coincided with Presight signing a partnership with the UAE Cybersecurity Council – one of many collaborations signed on a momentous opening day.

Prior to the signing, Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government, elaborated on the influence of entrepreneurs in supporting the national security mandate, stating: “Cybersecurity is firmly rooted in the DNA of everything that we do. Amidst so many technological aspects – be it AI today, quantum tomorrow, or something else in the future – safety and security will always be one of the main pillars to elevate and enhance next-generation startups and ensure people utilise technologies in the best ways possible. As a nation, our digital transformation focuses on the human-centric factor – and we see so many great entrepreneurs and aspirational thinkers supporting our national security and critical infrastructure.”

Brazil: An Innovation Powerhouse Building Bridges with the World  

With representation from 180 countries, 2025 is a record-breaking year for international participation at Expand North Star – where ApexBrasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, is the first-ever Country Partner. Across two pavilions, 55 startups and innovation hubs – specialising in AI, fintech, and more – are showcasing how Brazil is driving innovation and creating tech solutions for global challenges.

Convening Pioneering Unicorns and Visionary International Investors 

Expand North Star 2025 presents its largest-ever unicorn showcase with 40+ companies. Among those receiving significant attention were PsiQuantum (USA), a US$68 billion unicorn architecting the first fault-tolerant quantum system, and talabat (Kuwait), the MENA region’s leading on-demand online ordering and delivery platform valued at US$8.5 billion.

Others included Andalusia Labs (UAE), a global leader in digital asset risk infrastructure and one of the fastest unicorns in history – a billion-dollar company within 11 months of launching – and Carousell (Singapore), one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing e-commerce platforms.

From Europe and North America to Asia and the Middle East, Expand North Star also hosts the world’s most prominent multinational banking, venture capital, and investment institutions searching for the next era-defining ventures shaping the future of technology and innovation.

These include JP Morgan (USA), Daiwa Capital Management (Japan), Eurazeo (France), Octopus Energy Generation (UK), Qatar National Bank (Qatar), Raiffeisenbank (Austria), Samsung Ventures (Japan), and SBI Ventures (Germany).

Expand North Star 2025 continues on Tuesday.

For more information, please visit: https://ExpandNorthStar.com.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Expand North Star.

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The 27th China International Education Annual Conference held a cloud dialogue, where Yin Yuzhen and Saikaos discussed the exchange of folk ecological education

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14 hours ago

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November 11, 2026

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China

BEIJING, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 November 2026 – The 27th China Annual Conference & Expo for International Education (CACIE) hosted a “CACIE Talk” session in Beijing on October 30, where Yin Yuzhen, a Chinese anti-desertification pioneer, Bai Fan, head of the Luoyang No. 2 Foreign Language School Education Group, and their American friend Sakolsky, whose full name is Ronald Sakolsky, reconnected via video link. The brief conversation added a new footnote to a cross-border green story now spanning 26 years.
 




 
In the video link, Sakolsky said he had launched preparations on October 1 to establish the Sakolsky Foundation. He plans to work with the China Education Association for International Exchange to build a platform for exchanges between Chinese and American teachers and students, using people-to-people exchanges to bridge cultural divides. Communication and understanding, he said, are important bridges to a peaceful future for young people in the global village we all share. Bai Fan also noted that face-to-face cross-border educational exchanges can help young people learn tolerance and respect, and see a real, multi-dimensional China. Yin Yuzhen responded with a simple observation that resonated with the audience: planting trees and nurturing people both come down to perseverance.

The friendship had its origins in the Maowusu Sandy Land. In 1999, Sakolsky, then teaching in Luoyang, was moved by Yin Yuzhen’s story of taking root in the desert to control desertification, and raised $5,000 himself to support her afforestation efforts. Yin invested the entire sum in the sandy land, planted some 50,000 saplings, erected a stone marker bearing her friend’s name, and kept one dollar as a memento.

The two then lost touch for more than two decades. Yin kept up her sand-control work day after day while thinking of her friend far away. In May 2026, she posted a video appeal to find him and located Sakolsky within 26 hours. In August that year, the two met in person in Ordos and walked together into the forest that now stands there.

For more than four decades, Yin Yuzhen and her husband have remained committed to the Maowusu, bringing a total of 70,000 mu (about 4,667 hectares) of barren sand under control. The shifting dunes that once rolled with yellow dust have gradually become woodland and pasture. Today, 85 percent of the Maowusu Sandy Land in Uxin Banner has been treated, and the transformation of this sandy expanse is regarded as a model case in reversing land degradation worldwide. Over the years, the area has continued to attract volunteers from many countries to take part in desertification control, and people-to-people cooperation on environmental protection has continued to grow.

The goodwill that began with sand control has long gone beyond a single stretch of sandy land. On October 15 this year, Yin Yuzhen was named one of the inaugural “100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems and Rural Development” at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. There she joined Sakolsky and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu in planting a crape myrtle as a symbol of friendship, sharing China’s experience in desertification control on the international stage. Windblown sand respects no borders, and a shared commitment to ecological conservation has carried the story of two ordinary people out of the desert and onto the international multilateral platform.

The thread of people-to-people friendship clearly runs from the saplings in the Maowusu to the crape myrtle as a mark of friendship in Rome, and now to the conversation in Beijing about exchanges among young people. Sakolsky’s plan to establish the foundation is meant to carry forward the goodwill that began in the desert: starting from an ecological commitment, using educational exchange as a bond, and helping more young people build connections and pass on the power of goodness and beauty.
 




 

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Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group–World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) Investment Excellence Awards 2026 Announce Winners

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14 hours ago

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November 11, 2026

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Islamic Development Bank

Beyond recognizing excellence, the Awards foster peer learning and the exchange of best practices among IsDB Member Countries, helping transform investment opportunities into sustainable, impactful, and investment-ready projects

GENEVA, Switzerland, November 11, 2026/APO Group/ –The IsDB Group–WAIPA Investment Excellence Awards 2026 (https://www.IsDB.org) concluded today during the 30th World Investment Conference (WIC 2026) in Geneva, Switzerland, recognizing outstanding Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) for their contributions to sustainable investment, investment facilitation, and economic development across IsDB Member Countries.

 




  

The General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), Egypt, received the IsDB Group- WAIPA Investment Excellence Awards 2026 for Outstanding Sustainable Investment Project for the Kom Ombo Solar PV Power Project, a landmark initiative that has delivered measurable economic, social, and environmental impact while advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Invest Oman received the IsDB Group-WAIPA Investment Excellence Awards 2026 for Investment-Ready Projects, Partnerships & Facilitation Excellence in recognition of its success in developing investment-ready opportunities through effective partnerships, stakeholder coordination, and investor facilitation.

The National Investment Promotion Agency of Comoros received a Special Recognition Award for Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The agency was recognized for supporting investors at every stage, from preparing projects to aftercare.

The Awards are a joint initiative of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group and World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), established to recognize Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) from IsDB Member Countries that are driving sustainable development, private sector growth, economic diversification, and long-term prosperity through investment.

A total of 15 applications were submitted for the 2026 edition. Following an eligibility screening process, all eligible submissions were reviewed and assessed by an independent international jury, which selected the winners based on the published evaluation criteria.

The awards were presented by Mr. Ismail Ersahin, Chief Executive Officer of WAIPA; Mr. Sahal Almarwai, Division Manager of Outreach & Events Management at the IsDB Group Business Forum (THIQAH); and Mr. Kadir Basboga, Associate Manager, Regional Integration, Cooperation & Capacity Development at IsDB. The ceremony brought together IPAs leaders, senior government officials, investors, and private sector representatives attending the World Investment Conference (WIC) 2026.

Launched during the IsDB Group Annual Meetings 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Awards reflect the evolving role of IPAs in supporting investors throughout the investment lifecycle, strengthening investment ecosystems, coordinating stakeholders, and developing bankable investment opportunities. Beyond recognizing excellence, the Awards foster peer learning and the exchange of best practices among IsDB Member Countries, helping transform investment opportunities into sustainable, impactful, and investment-ready projects.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB Group).

 

 




 

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Lord Nicholas Stern to headline Africa’s Green Economy Summit as continent looks towards 32nd Conference of the Parties (COP32)

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14 hours ago

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November 11, 2026

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COP32

AGES 2027 brings global and African leaders together in Cape Town to focus on financing and delivering Africa’s sustainable future

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, November 11, 2026/APO Group/ –Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, one of the world’s leading authorities on the economics of climate change, will deliver a keynote address at Africa’s Green Economy Summit (https://apo-opa.co/4iRv4j7) (AGES), taking place from 23 to 26 February 2027 at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town. His participation comes as Africa looks towards COP32, which Ethiopia will host in 2027.

 




  

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government and Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, will address delegates during the opening keynote session: “Ready for the World: Financing and Delivering Africa’s Sustainable Future.”

A foundational figure in shaping the economic case for global climate action, Professor Lord Nicholas Stern led the landmark Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, which demonstrated the profound economic risks of inaction on climate change and made the case for investment in a transition to a low-carbon economy.

His participation comes as Africa enters an important period for climate action. With COP32 placing the global spotlight on the continent, the focus is increasingly shifting from ambition and commitments towards implementation: mobilising capital, building investable projects, strengthening resilience and ensuring the green transition supports economic growth, industrialisation and jobs.

“COP32 is an opportunity for Africa to change the narrative from a continent seeking climate finance to a continent offering some of the world’s most compelling green investment opportunities. AGES 2027 is about making that opportunity tangible by connecting capital with projects, policy with implementation, and ambition with delivery,” says Emmanuelle Nicholls, Group Director: Green Economy at VUKA Group.

That transition from ambition to delivery sits at the heart of the newly released AGES 2027 programme, with “Road to COP32: Africa’s Implementation Agenda” running as a cross-cutting theme throughout the summit. The opening programme also features a dedicated discussion on Africa’s adaptation and resilience agenda on the road to COP32.

New voices shaping Africa’s green economy

AGES 2027 is about making that opportunity tangible by connecting capital with projects, policy with implementation, and ambition with delivery

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern will be joined by a growing line-up of African and international leaders spanning green growth, climate finance, development finance, trade and investment.

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Mallé Fofana, Deputy Executive Director and Head of the Directorate for Green Growth Implementation at the Global Green Growth Institute
  • Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Division Director for South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini
  • Haile Mekonnen, COP32 Climate Finance Representative for the Ethiopian Private Sector and member of UNECA’s COP32 Climate Finance Technical Team
  • Aakif Merchant, Director and Head of Africa at Convergence
  • Dave Chalila, Head of Africa and Middle East Investments at GuarantCo (PIDG)
  • Roslyn Ng’eno, Senior Investment Expert at the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat

 

The programme will examine some of the most immediate opportunities and challenges shaping Africa’s sustainable development, including energy access and green industrialisation, water security, sustainable agriculture, climate and nature finance, critical minerals, sustainable mobility, carbon finance, digital infrastructure and the mobilisation of institutional capital.

From climate ambition to capital

The COP32 conversation at AGES will be grounded in investment and delivery.

AGES 2027 is expected to bring together 700+ delegates, 150+ investors and 40 investment-ready projects representing a US$2 billion pipeline, creating a marketplace connecting African opportunities with the capital, partners and expertise required to take them forward.

New additions for 2027 include a Ministerial & Technical Leadership Roundtable, a closed-door DFI Roundtable and the Green Village, alongside investor roundtables, curated matchmaking and project pitches.

The City of Cape Town returns as host city for AGES 2027.

The full AGES 2027 programme is now available, together with the summit’s new infrastructure and SMME Dealbooks highlighting investment-ready African projects seeking capital and partnerships.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of VUKA Group.

 




 

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