The event will be held at the Jeddah Hilton from May 16 to 18 with the support of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal.

Forum head Nashwa Tahir said three groups representing public and private sector personalities and academics would analyze ways of combating the menace of fake products.

“The forum does not aim at criticism but will promote cooperation with the government sector in an attempt to promote e-commence,” said Tahir. It would also promote the aspirations of young entrepreneurs.

Tahir also defended the traders. “Traders are not thieves, cheaters or greedy. They are also consumers as well.”

The forum, which is being held for the second time in Jeddah, goes in line with the initiatives of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) to promote Jeddah as a commercial hub for more international events and conferences.

With this aim, the JCCI officials announced on Wednesday that they had allocated a larger location in the northern area of Jeddah to stage major events such as the commercial forum.

Mazen Batterjee, deputy president of JCCI, said the chamber they still faced difficulties in organizing events because officials at various government departments did not know the importance of such programs.

He added: “What we hope for in this forum is to hold talks at the workshops with officials representing different government departments. The aim is to ease regulations that might paralyze commercial transactions or might delay events because they do not fully understand the event themes or the goals.”

Batterjee said the JCCI would set up a tourism committee this year to organize the 70-day Jeddah Summer Festival.

Adnan Mandoura, the secretary-general of the JCCI, a chamber team that visited Italy recently learned about a new scheme to cut red tape and ease business process.

“We are hoping to introduce this experience in the kingdom and benefit from it,” said Mandoura

Ayman Fadil, the head of the scientific committee in charge of selecting the forum themes and speakers, said government officials were being given a platform to provide answers to various.

Issues raised by traders.

Fadil, who is also a professor at King Abdul Aziz University Department of Economy, said forum would hold a poll on all its recommendations.