The meeting will bring together the GCC countries, Levant, Maghreb and the international community. It will focus on best practices in economic policy and reform, and elaborate concrete ways in which all stakeholders can drive positive outcomes across the region.

Al-Mady, who co-chairs the event along with other global corporate leaders,  will attend closed and private sessions to address job creation in the Arab World on Oct. 21, along with 30 top employers. He is also a panelist at a session on Employment Challenge on Oct. 23 in which all the participants will attend. It will touch on several key issues, including international best practice, development assistance, role of the private sector, and education systems. Al-Mady will also attend the closing session on Oct. 23 titled, Action Plan for 2012.

Expressing his views in a message to the forum, Al-Mady said: "To succeed in achieving economic prosperity and job creation in the Middle East, it is also necessary for business itself to become a strategic enabler of economic growth and job creation. In SABIC's case, we are a major direct employer in the Middle East, employing nearly 20,000 people in this region, therefore opening economic opportunities for thousands and their families."

Al-Mady said that SABIC plays an even more important multiplier role in every country where it does business. "It is estimated that one job in the chemical industry creates six additional jobs at suppliers, customers and downstream processing plants. Our 33,000 jobs at SABIC then become almost 200,000 jobs worldwide when you count in suppliers and downstream customers of SABIC. In Saudi Arabia alone, SABIC is introducing advanced thermoplastics in the region for the first time. This will lead to the creation of new manufacturing industries and downstream sectors in the near future. As a result of this, thousands of skilled jobs will be created," he said.

While stressing on the importance of investing in education, Al-Mady said, "Education is the cornerstone of economic prosperity and wherever we see high unemployment and economic gaps in the Middle East and the rest of the world, we can often trace it back to the unsuitable educational support and access. It is the duty of top businesses in the Middle East to take the lead here, alongside governments."