RIYADH, 2 April 2005 — A total of 200 participants, including 12 Saudis, will meet in Doha today to discuss the findings of the World Economic Forum’s 2005 edition of the Arab World Competitiveness Roundtable.
This was disclosed to Arab News by Mark Adams, head of media, World Economic Forum, who said from Geneva that Khaled Olayan will be one of the leading participants from Saudi Arabia. The roundtable is being hosted by Qatar Airways, whose Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al-Baker will be among the speakers along with the captains of industry.
Among the keynote speakers will be Abdullah ibn Hamad Al-Attiyah, second deputy prime minister of Qatar, and Marwan Muasher, deputy prime minister of Jordan.
Adams said the main theme of the conference is Arab competitiveness. “On this occasion, we will release our report which ranks 12 Arab economies in terms of competitiveness. The report makes many recommendations about economic and business reform necessary in the region if the “time bomb” of huge youth unemployment is to be avoided.”
According to him, the Arab World Competitiveness Report is the first attempt to measure and benchmark the performance of the Arab national economies. This year’s edition will profile 12 countries, based on the Forum’s Growth Competitiveness Index, as well as an analysis on specific impediments to effective reforms in the region.
The Arab World Competitiveness Report represents a tremendous tool for the Arab business community to monitor progress for enhancing the business environment in the Arab world, and challenging public policies with tangible arguments.
“This report is a contribution to the debate on the policy requirements for implementing a new vision for the Arab world,” he said, quoting Augusto Lopez-Claros, director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Program. “In centuries past, the Arab world was a thriving center of knowledge, learning and innovation. Its peoples long ago demonstrated their capacity for enlightened, creative engagement with the rest of the world, in ways that left an indelible mark on the course of civilization. A return to that golden age requires a clear comprehension of the problems and challenges which the region faces today, an acceptance of the need for change, and the formulation of viable paths of reform.”
The official said the business community will be represented at the meeting by the Arab Business Council (ABC), the organization of the Arab private sector which emerged after the publication of the first edition of the Arab World Competitiveness Report in 2003.
The ABC acts as a business roundtable in the Arab region, working at the national level for deeper reforms. Members of the ABC will play a major role in the Arab Competitiveness Roundtable, acting as the voice of the Arab private sector. According to Fred Sicre, managing director of WEF, “The World Economic Forum is pleased to give its support to efforts by Arabs from all walks of life, but particularly from business, to deal with the clear problems that the region faces.”
He adds: “This is a region with the highest population growth rates in the world, home to more than one quarter of the earth’s total unemployed young people between 15 and 24. Without true home grown reform there is little hope for the several million youths who are entering the job market each year.”