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.

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.

“An example of this public and private collaboration, I want to introduce Global Mobility Call, an initiative which is being developed under the sponsorship of our Ministry. GMC Is a global movement taking place in Madrid, in June, that aims to create a leading environment for sustainable mobility, integrate industrial sectors and connect them across sectorial business spaces, and contribute to a pandemic recovery and to a cleaner, safer and more inclusive society. “

“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.

Accelerating Sustainable Mobility

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 Defense, said that "technology plays a fundamental role in achieving a new mobility ecosystem that places people at the centre, that is more sustainable, safer, smarter and better connected.”

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

The presentation of Global Mobility Call at Expo Dubai comes on the heels of the global launch in Madrid in July last year and after international presentations in Glasgow (UK) during COP26, and in Paris in December. Following Dubai, other presentations will take place at business fora in Berlin, London and Lisbon in the coming months, with the goal of sharing the Global Mobility Call’s vision and objectives with key international audiences.  

Mike Bhaskaran, Chief Operating Officer of Logistics and Technology, DP World (Dubai Ports World),  highlighted the importance of increased collaboration at the international  level “ My call to action from the team here is how can we get like more and more traders from Spain working with us so we can find like good back call so the containers are not going back empty to the destinations wherever  their origin destination capability , but we can actually fill them up and then significantly impact and that is like in efficiency that we can all workcome.” Also it is essential that the public and private sector can actually come together. My call for action would be more collaboration so we can bring the cost of logistics down for everybody, thereby significantly improving the sustainability aspects of the traders as well”.

In this folder, you can find this press release in Arabic and Spanish as well as multimedia content, including photos and video from the event.

Here you can watch the event.