DUBAI, 5 December 2004 — The organizers of Arab Strategy Forum 2004 have line up a series of in-depth workshops on the first two days of the think tank’s meeting later this month.
The Arab world has been undergoing a transformation. It has a young and growing population which is no longer content with traditional roles.
To identify what is happening in the Arab world and how to keep track with the changing scenario both regionally and globally, the ASF 2004 organizing committee has scheduled the first workshop on the first day — Dec. 13 — on the key subject of political reform.
Amy Hawthorne, editor of Arab Reform Bulletin will lead the first workshop on “Fundamentals of Political Reform: Shifts in Governance.”
Next to be discussed would be the critical issue of security.
The Arab world has had to rethink security issues following recent events such as Sept. 11, 2001 and the Iraq action. The question that is facing countries in the Middle East is whether they can go it alone or have common security strategies. If it has to be the latter, a further question arises — whether Arab countries should combine their strengths or should they go in for bilateral defense and security pacts?
Issues such as these would be discussed at the second workshop on “Arab Security Integration” that will be led by Prof. Yezid Sayigh, academic director for the Cambridge Program for Security in International Society at Britain’s University of Cambridge.
The third workshop on day one of the ASF 2004 will ponder over the issues that divide the East and the West.
There is a rift in how the West perceives the Arab world and vice versa. The differences need to be understood and misconceptions eliminated.
The third workshop will be entitled “Clash of Civilizations, Alignment or Conflict?” It will be led by Dr. Fuad Ajami, director for Middle East Studies Program at the famed John Hopkins University in the US.
The Dec. 13 -15 ASF workshops will pick up momentum on the second day when the important subject of family businesses will be discussed.
The Arab world, and especially the young Gulf corporates, have a great preponderance of family businesses started by patriarchs.
However, the next generation is emerging at a time when the world is getting smaller and more fiercely competitive.
The National Bank of Dubai has agreed to sponsor the discussion of “Moving Toward a Free Economy: The Future of Family Businesses.”
Another workshop will follow up on the wider issue of Arab trade, which despite commonality of language, region, culture, religion and customs has not risen to any satisfactory level. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of trade from any Arab country is conducted with those outside the Arab world.
Najid Suwairis, chairman of Egypt’s leading firm Orascom; and Pascal Lamy, trade commissioner designate of the European Union, will lead discussions on the issue.
The Arab world also faces the issues of creating a corps of leadership that could take the region through to the next decade and beyond.
Despite a young and literate population, there is a crisis of leadership. How to overcome this key obstacle would be elaborated upon by Hakam Kanafani, vice-chairman of the executive committee of the Young Arab Leaders, an association that was formed to create a corps of young leaders from across the Arab world.
The final workshop of the forum will be on the critical issue of how to attract investment flows.
The Arab world currently attracts less than 1 percent of global foreign direct investment (FDI), which is clearly not enough.
Ways to catalyze FDI and how to attract back Arab funds parked overseas will be discussed during the workshop entitled “Attracting Investment to the Arab world”. It will be led by Lubna Al-Olayan, chief executive officer of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Olayan Financing Company.
