Over 150 top policy-makers, business leaders and public figures from the Arab world will gather in Doha, Qatar on 9-10 April for the Arab World Competitiveness Roundtable. The participants at this exclusive regional meeting of the World Economic Forum will discuss how to sustain the momentum of growth in the Arab world. What policies will be most effective in improving the competitive environment in the region? Which regional and global trends will open up new opportunities for Arab businesses in the coming years? How can targeted reforms support promising sectors?
The programme of the two-day meeting will focus on three sectors of Arab economies – travel and tourism, healthcare and insurance services – and discussions on the wider regional environment, including the growing role of Iran, future evolution scenarios for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and the challenges ahead for the new generation of Arab companies that are growing globally.
"As Arab countries continue to make significant progress in getting the market fundamentals right, liberalizing trade and encouraging private investment, a new generation of Arab companies is emerging as global players. The next challenge for Arab corporations will be to develop their own risk management know-how in order to sustain their capacity to compete. The Roundtable will dedicate a session where CEOs and experts will take stock of the types of risks Arab corporations are, or will be, facing and explore the alternative risk mitigation techniques that would be suitable for them," said Sherif El Diwany, Director, Head of Middle East, World Economic Forum. (Watch the full interview by clicking on the picture)
On this occasion, the World Economic Forum will launch its third Arab World Competitiveness Report, which is intended to support policy-makers and business leaders alike in their endeavour to enhance competitiveness in the region. This year’s report has expanded coverage to 13 Arab economies – Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates. It provides an in-depth assessment of the competitiveness of Arab economies vis-à-vis the rest of the world, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of individual countries while offering a tool to assess efficiency of measures and overall progress.
Since the last edition of the Arab World Competitiveness Report two years ago, the global economic environment has continued to benefit the Arab world economies. And despite a precarious geopolitical environment, many economies in the region have grown faster than in the last three decades. The previous edition of the report called for more intense reform efforts and, indeed, many countries have made significant progress in reforming and diversifying their economies.
"The report contains a number of policy recommendations that governments can take up directly. They can use the rankings to get an overview of competitiveness in specific Arab countries as well as what the business sector thinks about the competitive environment," said Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, Senior Economist at the World Economic Forum and co-author of the Arab World Competitiveness Report 2007.
Co-Chairs of the Roundtable are:
Mazen S. Darwazeh, Chairman, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Jordan
Zoheir Garranah, Minister of Tourism of Egypt
Yousef Hussain Kamal, Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of the Economy and Commerce of Qatar
Tarek Sultan Al-Essa, Chairman and Managing Director, Agility, Kuwait
Other notable participants registered for the meeting include: H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar; Alireza Sheikh Attar, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Mohammed J. A. Larijani, Director, Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM), Islamic Republic of Iran; Hassan Rowhani, Head, Center for Strategic Research, Islamic Republic of Iran; Sheikha Hissah Saad Al Sabah, President, Council of Arab Businesswomen (CABW), Kuwait; Anwar K. E. Al Sadah, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain; and Ghalia M. bin Hamad Al Thani, Chairperson, National Health Authority, Qatar.
Another highlight of the meeting is a televised debate on Tuesday at 12.15 - 13.00 on Al Jazeera television, the official host broadcaster of the meeting. The debate, part of the official programme, will analyse whether Iran's economic and political relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have a positive impact on the business environment in the region.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (www.weforum.org)
