Dubai hosts its annual World Government Summit today. Photo: AETOSWire

Dubai hosts its annual World Government Summit today.

Twenty presidents, 250 ministers and 10,000 government officials and members of the global business community are expected to attend the three-day event, including, among other notables, Elon Musk and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The theme of this year’s summit is “Shaping Future Governments,” with the conference’s 22 forums focusing broadly on economic development, environmental sustainability, healthcare and space.

Although the summit is designed to focus on long-term global issues, participants are likely to address, as a short-term regional concern, humanitarian and economic responses to last Monday’s earthquake striking Turkey and Syria. The natural disaster has killed more than 30,000 people and injured tens of thousands more. Ankara responded economically by imposing a five-day pause on trading with Turkey’s $819 billion economy.

Expect attendees to urge and pledge short-term humanitarian aid, while directing attention to better long-term natural disaster preparation. Ankara itself is especially likely to draw criticism for responding slowly to the disaster and not sufficiently regulating the structural adequacy of housing. While these criticisms by global political and business leaders alone will not alone sway Turkey’s June presidential election, they will bring international attention to local criticisms of the Erdogan government.