By Ravi Kumar

I just returned from the 6th edition of the World Government Summit, Dubai where I was hired as an Interpreter for the Summit. The Summit was held in Dubai from February 11-13, 2018 where our Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited as the Guest of Honor. This is an annual event conceptualized and hosted by the Government of United Arab Emirates.

I had the opportunity to interpret for some of the top leaders of the world such as Edouard Philippe, the Prime Minister of France; Prof. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chair of World Economic Forum – Davos; Agnel Gurria, Secretary General, OECD; Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, Chair of International Humanitarian City; Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF; Jim Yong Kim, President, world Bank; Richard Quest, CNN; Prof. Michio Kaku, Physicist and Futurist; Bill McDermott, CEO, SAP; Deepak Chopra, Public Speaker and Prominent Figure of New Age Movement; Maurice Levy, CEO Publicis; Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Director General, WHO; Roberto Azevedo, Director General of WTO; Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO; Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed al Nahyan, Chairman of the Education and Human Resources Council, UAE.

It is important to note that since its inception in 2013, this event has become one of the largest events in the Arab world and has emerged as the common platform for sharing knowledge with presence of representatives from government, futurism, technology, and innovation. It provides a platform for thought leadership and acts like a networking hub for policymakers, experts and pioneers in human development. It also showcases innovations, best practices and smart solutions to inspire creativity to tackle these future challenges.

This year the event hosted more than 4000 delegates coming from 140 countries. The Summit was held in partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the UN, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Dubai Municipality, and El Centro Latin americano de Adimistracion para el Desarollo.

Having the opportunity to provide Interpretation services at such a platform was a unique experience in itself. Not just I found myself amidst such eminent dignitaries of the world, it was also a challenge to perform my duties as an Interpreter well. Since I regularly update myself on various subject matters, luckily my overall understanding of IT, Artificial intelligence, databank, Politics, Public Policy, Business, International Commerce, UNO and its functions, Law and current affairs helped me position myself well during interpreting. Thus, I was able to successfully carry out my interpreting task with ease.

Thanks to Liliane Nakad of Four Pillar Communication who gave me this opportunity to work as an interpreter for the summit. I felt good to receive positive feedback from Liliane and the end client which further boasted my moral. Also this summit was yet another occasion to challenge myself and learn new things during the rendering process. I returned to New Delhi, my workplace with a rich experience of what the future holds and what it is likely to look like.

Author Ravi Kumar is a seasonsed translator and interpreter for Hindi-English-Spanish and Founder of Modlingua Group