JEDDAH, 9 July 2005 — Tunisia will host the World Summit on the Information Society, which is organized by the United Nations, in the middle of November this year.
More than 190 countries are expected to participate in the summit along with more than 14,000 Arab and European businessmen.
The summit aims at stressing the importance of the private sector and to limit the technology gap between north and south in addition to encouraging industrial countries to participate in an international fund to help poor countries.
The summit will provide investment opportunities in information and advanced communication technology at the technology exhibition that coincide with the summit, which is established on 12,000 square meters. Commercial deals of SR20 billion are expected to take place through this exhibition.
Arab countries are working with the official committee to present unified Arab proposal that will be presented at the summit. Dr. Saleh Al-Tayyar, secretary general of the Arab French Chamber of Commerce, said to Arab News that the Federation of Arab Chambers approved in the 99th meeting the importance of Arab private sector participation in the summit.
Al-Tayyar added that it was decided to form a private sector team from Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan, Algeria, Qatar and the Joint Arab Chamber to make an economic representation at the two-day summit. Al-Tayyar will present a study at the summit.
