President Mubarak to inaugurate the World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Egypt

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President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak of Egypt will inaugurate the World Economic Forum on the Middle East meeting which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh from 20 to 22 May 2006. 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 (photo). “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 USA; 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: Mohammed H. Almady, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Saudi Arabia; M. Shafik Gabr, Chairman and Managing Director, Artoc Group for Investment & Development, Egypt; Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Chairman, easyGroup, United Kingdom; Nemir A. Kirdar, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Investcorp, United Kingdom; William R. Rhodes, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Citicorp Holdings and Citibank, USA; John A. Swainson, President and Chief Executive Officer, CA, USA.

Other leading business personalities include: Mohamed A. Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties, United Arab Emirates; Sameer K. I. Al Ansari, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Holding, United Arab Emirates; Anthony Allum, Chairman, Halcrow Group, United Kingdom; Mohammed Alshaya, Chief Executive Officer, M.H. Alshaya Co., Kuwait; David Arkless, Executive Board Member, Manpower, United Kingdom; Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways, Qatar; Akil Hamed Beshir, Chairman, Telecom Egypt, Egypt; Mohamed El Mahdi, President and Chief Executive Officer, North and East Africa Region, Siemens, Egypt; Ibrahim S. Dabdoub, Chief Executive Officer, National Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait; Eisa Al Eisa, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Samba Financial Group (Samba), Saudi Arabia; Abdel Salam El Anwar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bank, Egypt; Hisham Ezz El Arab, Chairman and Managing Director, Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt; Tarek Sultan Al-Essa, Chairman and Managing Director, PWC Logistics, Kuwait; Esam Janahi, Chairman, Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH), Bahrain; Mohammed Bin Essa Al Khalif, Chief Executive, Bahrain Economic Development Board, Bahrain; Said T. Khoury, Member of the Board of Directors, Arab Bank, Greece; Yasser El Mallawany, Chairman, EFG-Hermes Holding, Egypt; Munib R. Masri, Chairman, PADICO, Palestinian Territories; Arif M. Naqvi, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Abraaj Capital, United Arab Emirates; Naguib O. Sawiris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Orascom Telecom Holding, Egypt; Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, Ports Customs and Free Zone Corporation, United Arab Emirates; and Faruq Al Zanki, Chairman and Managing Director, Kuwait Oil Company, Kuwait.