CAIRO, 10 June 2006 — A summit of women leaders from around the world was to open in Cairo today, as the annual gathering returned to Africa for the third time since it was launched in 1990. More than 900 academic, business and political leaders will take part in this year’s three-day summit to exchange ideas and discuss advancing the status of women in government and businesses.

Dubbed the “Davos for Women,” after the male-dominated World Economic Forum initiated at the Swiss ski resort of Davos, the meeting will also review the economic profile of women in the Middle Eastern region. The gathering will feature a pre-summit ministerial round table, which will bring together women ministers of varied portfolios, discussing policies that have positively impacted women’s economic status in their own countries.

“The summit is one of the most important forums that address the economic problems of women,” Farakhanda Hassan, secretary-general of the Egyptian National Council for Women, said on the eve of the meeting. “I want to hear what challenges are for women,” Marilyn Johnson, IBM vice president for marketing and one of the summit organizers, told AFP. One of the main topics for discussion will be “Internet-Based Marketing of Microenterprise Products” and Johnson said the company was ready to help. “I want to listen, to meet with these women, and to learn better how to serve them,” she said.

Other topics on the summit agenda include “Partnerships in Advancing Women’s Economic Progress,” “Women’s Voices in Trade Agreements” and “Moving Women into the Corporate Boardroom: Innovative Strategies.” Farakhanda said that the meeting will be a good “opportunity for the world to get to know Egyptian businesswomen.”

Among those expected to participate include Sanaa Al-Banna, chairwoman of the public sector Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company and Sahar Al-Sallab, vice chairwoman of Commercial International Bank, a leading private sector bank.

Washington is sending a high-level delegation to the summit led by State Department’s Under Secretary of State for Management Henrietta H. Fore.