DOHA, 1 April 2005 — The Qatari government ministers and officials of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank will be joined by chief executives of some 60 leading Arab companies at a crucial conference in Doha tomorrow. The World Economic Forum Arab Competitiveness Round-Table, being held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Doha, will discuss political, commercial and economic developments in the region in several sessions which will also see delegates sharing their insights, officials said yesterday.
More than 200 global leaders from business, governments and organizations are expected to attend the conference which is being organized by Geneva-based World Economic Forum. “Competitiveness within the Arab world and, between the region and rest of the world will be the focus of the round-table,” a spokesman of Qatar Airways, which hosts the conference, told Arab News.
The opening session, called “What it will take the Arab world to catch up in the competitiveness race?”, will launch the World Economic Forum’s first-ever competitiveness ranking of Arab countries in which their growth prospects will be identified.
Gender inequality’s impact on the economic growth of nations will be the subject of a session, “Women as dynamic agents of change in the Arab world: a vision for 2020”.
The pace of reform aimed at improving the economic climate in the Arab world will be under the spotlight at a session on “Creating an investment-friendly climate in the region”. “Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al-Baker will be among the session’s participants.
The topic of “Arab free trade: are the skeptics right?” will be debated by delegates “as they probe how countries in the region have been prevented from moving aggressively on the path toward liberalization and free trade,” the World Economic Forum said.