GENEVA, 22 April 2006 — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt will inaugurate the World Economic Forum on the Middle East meeting which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh from May 20 to 22. Held under the working theme “The Promise of a New Generation”, the meeting will bring together more than 1,200 participants from business, politics, civil society and the media to tackle the challenges the region is facing.
“The theme of the meeting is inspired by the vision of renaissance often highlighted by political, business and civil society leaders in the Middle East,” said Sherif El Diwany, director, Middle East and North Africa, World Economic Forum. “We will be discussing how to enable businesses to compete globally, the geopolitical challenges in the region, the rule of law, peace, security, the dialogue between the West and Islam, and the issues of youth, culture and identity,” he added.
There will be strong government representation from Egypt at the meeting. Among them: Prime Minister Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif; Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Aboul Gheit; Minister of Finance Youssuf Boutros-Ghali; and Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Rachid. Other prominent political figures who have already confirmed their participation are: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkey; Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, prime minister of Malaysia; Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, emir of the State of Qatar, and chairman, Islamic Conference Organization, Qatar; Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, first deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Qatar; Mohammad Al-Gergawi, minister of state for cabinet affairs of the United Arab Emirates; Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, minister of foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates; Prince Turki Al-Faisal, chairman, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Saudi Arabia, and ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the US; Amre Moussa, secretary-general, League of Arab States, Cairo; and Josep Borrell Fontelles, president of the European Parliament, Brussels.
From business, the co-chairs of the meeting are: Mohamed H. Al-Mady, vice-chairman and chief executive officer, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC); M. Shafik Gabr, chairman and managing director, Artoc Group for Investment & Development, Egypt and Nemir A. Kirdar, founder, president and chief executive officer, Investcorp.
