World Economic Forum On The Middle East 2008

World Economic Forum on the Middle East Learning from the Future Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 18-20 May 2008

Report

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the World Economic Forum.

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Contents

Page 3 Preface Page 4 Meeting Overview Page 10 Scenarios Series Page 18 The WorkSpace Page 20 Acknowledgements

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Preface

Since the World Economic Forum on the Middle East last met in Jordan 12 months ago, the Middle East has continued to be at the epicentre of global current affairs. The Annapolis conference, the US “surge” in Iraq and the deadlock in Lebanon all made regular headlines. But this year developments in business and economics arguably had an equally strong impact around the world. The Gulf helped to fill a liquidity gap created by the credit crunch, massive investment projects were launched, the dollar’s slide put pressure on currency pegs, and inflation and rising food prices caused concern across the region. This year’s programme addressed these current issues, while also refocusing attention on the long-term trends and opportunities that lie ahead. The theme “Learning from the Future” reflected our contention that by considering how the world may evolve in 15-20 years time we can draw important lessons for today. The combination of economic, political and social factors at play in the Middle East makes this year a particularly fitting time for such an exercise. First, the oil windfall for the GCC may reach an estimated US$ 9 trillion by 2020, assuming the oil price averages over US$ 100 a barrel in this period. How this vast wealth will be spent is a question not just for today’s leaders, but also for future generations. As the region invests, it needs to avoid short-termism and think ahead to account for emerging long-term global trends if it is to make the most of the opportunities on offer. Second, on the political front, the last few years have seen a major shift in the political map of the region, not least through the regime change in Iraq and the rising influence of Iran. These and other changes have complicated the picture, with a web that overlaps alliances, loyalties and issues making it difficult to separate the different issues. As we await a change in the US presidency, a reassessment of strategies for peace and stability in the region seems to be in order.

Finally, demographics – a silent but unstoppable force in the region – will transform Arab societies in the next two decades. 60% of the population is under 30 years of age, placing enormous strains on health and education. Leaders in the region need a clear vision of how societies will evolve in the future so that the right steps can be taken. All of the above points to a need to take a long view even when current crises demand our attention. Scenarios are a tool to help us to do just that and, in Sharm El Sheikh, they were integrated for the first time into the programme of a World Economic Forum meeting. The Scenarios Series examined the impact of three global scenarios to 2025: the Hyperlinked World, the Sustainable World and the Multipolar World. Participants immersed themselves in these worlds, using the fresh perspective they provided to examine the impact of long-term trends on current policy priorities. The report outlines the main themes of the meeting and offers a taste of the discussions in Sharm El Sheikh. The first section is an overview of the sessions on this year’s regional agenda. The second paints a picture of the three scenarios, drawing on the insights and ideas developed in the Scenarios Series. The final section covers sessions in the WorkSpace, an incubator of innovative solutions and a focus of creative thinking for the Forum’s diverse participants. The World Economic Forum would like to thank the CoChairs of the meeting: Khalid Abdulla-Janahi, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Shamil Bank of Bahrain; Mohammed Alshaya, Chairman, Alshaya Group; H.R.H. The Duke of York, UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment; Yuriko Koike, Member of the House of Representatives, National Diet of Japan; Paul Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer, TransFair; and Jimmy Wales, Founder and Chair Emeritus, Wikia. Sherif El Diwany Director, Head of Middle East

Daniel Davies Associate Director, Middle East

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Meeting Overview

“The current international economic crisis introduces many problems where social and economic dimensions are intertwined, as well as other issues such as climate change, water, food and energy supplies, and standards of living. The international community needs to recalculate the cost of using agriculture for energy.” Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt

Try as we might to learn from the past, to draw from our wellspring of experience, too often memory serves as but an impenetrable labyrinth that freezes us in place. The young, unburdened by such strictures, can sometimes provide remarkable clarity about the path we should follow. So it was that one of the youth representatives drawn by the World Economic Forum, with the help of the British Council, summed up what so many of their elders at this year’s meeting seemed to be striving in so many words to say. “The relationship between government and the people has to change,” said Amira Abdel-Aziz, a young Egyptian woman. “We have to look at the people as the highest authority.”

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“After years of delay, progress is possible. After 60 years, it is past time to create a new basis for the future, one that recognizes the needs of all.” H.M. King Abdullah Ibn Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

In session after session, it was her message that bubbled up, a message of promise and yet of exasperation, a yearning to leave behind the baggage of a vexatious history and convert the dividends of the present economic boom into a happier, more equitable and sustainable future. Participants took to heart the meeting’s theme “Learning from the Future”. In a series of sessions, they considered three global scenarios – the Hyperlinked, Sustainable and Multipolar Worlds – and the challenges and opportunities that would confront the Middle East in the year 2025. By determining the kind of future the region and its people, particularly the youth, want and deserve, the 1,500 business, government and civil society leaders from 60 countries gathered in Sharm El Sheikh to set the course for how to achieve it.

“The purpose of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East is to address and hopefully advance all the issues on the regional agenda and to do so, in the best World Economic Forum tradition, in a multistakeholder framework, a public-private partnership approach.”

“America appreciates the challenges facing the Middle East, yet the light of liberty is beginning to shine … nations across the region have the opportunity to move forward with bold reforms.” George W. Bush, President of the United States of America

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

said. “It is capable of a very bright future – a future in which the Middle East is a place of innovation and discovery, driven by free men and women.”

Shed the politics of resentment, the paternalistic patterns of rule, participants urged, and convert the region’s vast oil wealth into skilled human capital that can stimulate creativity and innovation, transforming the region’s disparities into entrepreneurial opportunity. “The Middle East craves peace, stability and development,” said Egyptian President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak. “It has the strategic, natural and human resources to realize it.”

Many rejected Bush’s proposals, but few could object to his message. “We are very rich in this part of the world, but at the micro level we’re very poor – in terms of technology, innovation, creating social welfare and entrepreneurship,” said Khalid Abdulla-Janahi, Chairman of Bahrain’s Ithmaar Bank and one of the co-chairs of the meeting.

It was a sentiment echoed by US President George W. Bush in an address on the meeting’s opening day. “This region is home to energetic people, a powerful spirit of enterprise, and tremendous resources,” he

Rich, there is no question. The aggregate numbers across the Middle East point to what one participant called an oil-fuelled Arab Renaissance, with 6% average regional economic growth. As oil crests at US$ 135 a barrel, the Gulf is pulling in more than US$ 400 billion a year in oil revenues, providing a

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bulwark against the economic storm clouds brewing in the US and Europe, and recalling to many the heady days of the late 1970s. “Rising global energy demands have brought abundant financial liquidity,” said H.M. King Abdullah Ibn Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. “We need to do all we can to invest these assets in the growth of our own economies. This will make a direct contribution to our future.” That burden will inevitably fall to some extent on the region’s so-called sovereign wealth funds, public granaries of the bumper harvest of petrodollars. Scattered around the Gulf nations, these vast funds are the result of the wider redistribution of global income from the industrialized West to Asia, the Middle East and the rest of the developing world. Though still only a tiny sliver of overall global wealth – about US$ 3 trillion of assets in a universe of US$ 190 trillion – they have nevertheless attracted controversy thanks to high-profile purchases of stakes in Western financial institutions such as Citigroup and UBS.

“There are new enlightened young leaders that are taking charge with vision and have created fantastic models for business. But these are exceptional. We are not doing enough to invest in education, reform and better governance practices. We need a partnership between these leaders and government to do better for the masses – which are the youth.” Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman, Alshaya Group, Kuwait

Many financial experts say the funds are doing a much better job in this boom of managing their assets than they did in the 1970s, when they entrusted them to Western banks that in turn invested them largely in Latin American debt – with unhappy results. Now, said Fouad M. Alaeddin, Managing Partner for the Middle East at Ernst & Young in Jordan, they are taking strategic equity stakes that will promote the transfer of technology and business knowledge to the region.

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F

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Leader in the Spotlight – Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority It was no surprise that Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, arrived in Sharm El Sheikh with the usual litany of political and diplomatic issues to address. But he surprised some participants when he promoted a major business conference in Bethlehem and pushed investment opportunities in sectors like pharmaceuticals. He appeared as a national leader boosting a promising economy. “There is another face of Palestine that we intend to show the world,” he said. “There is money to be made here and there are great opportunities for those who come early.” Asked about prospects for investment after the Bethlehem conference, Fayyad replied that he was so excited about the meeting itself that he hadn’t given much thought to the day after. “The main point in doing this is to send a signal,” he said. Some of the main political issues were analysed from their economic flip side – take the roadblocks and other restrictions on the mobility of people and vehicles. “In economic and business terms, the siege means higher transportation and distribution costs,” he said. “In business terms, you cannot be competitive.”

The funds themselves might disagree, however. They have sought to mollify critics in the West by saying they are strictly profit-driven and have no strategic objective other than to maximize profits. But just as they face criticism in the West, so voices closer to home are saying that the funds ought to take a more proactive role in funding development in the Middle East.

Despite the oil money flooding into sovereign wealth funds, roughly 24% of the region’s population still lives on less than US$ 2 a day. High birth rates have created a demographic bulge that will create as many as 100 million new jobseekers in the Middle East in the next 10-15 years. “When we think of the Middle East and the tremendous oil revenues we tend to forget that this reality exists in the Middle East as well,” said co-chair Paul Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer of TransFair. Experts point to rising joblessness as a reservoir for political and economic unrest, but a more explosive combination is the growing disparity of incomes – a by-product of globalization. Some say this divergence has virtually eradicated the Middle East’s middle class. “We still have lots of poverty in an area awash with money,” said Mohamed M. ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “Poverty is the most powerful weapon of mass destruction.”

“With tremendous oil wealth, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the Middle East faces so many of the challenges of other developing world countries: poverty, hunger, joblessness and environmental degradation.” Paul Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer, TransFair,

The recent spike in food prices has only made matters worse, sparking riots in Egypt and forcing governments around the region to take action, often by providing subsidies or capping food prices. Some blame competition with biofuels for the rise. But demand for biofuels is directly proportional to the rising price of oil, so higher food costs appear to be an unintended but inevitable side effect of the region’s oil boom. Unfortunately, it is a side effect that hits poor nations harder than their oil-rich neighbours. The instability food shortages may cause them, however, is a threat to the entire region, including the Gulf.

USA; Social Entrepreneur

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From left to right: Jaime Morales Carazo, Vice-President of Nicaragua; Elias Antonio Saca, President of El Salvador; Patrick Manning, Prime

Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; Susan L. Segal, President and Chief Executive Officer, Council of the Americas, USA; Manuel Zelaya Rosales,

Eye on Algeria “We are the most liberal and open country in the whole region,” declared Abdel Hamid Temmar, Minister of Industry and Investment Promotion of Algeria. “But we are not perceived that way.” Some people have taken notice – and many of them are making good money. Riad Fechkeur, Co-President, Société Red Med, Algeria, is a local entrepreneur whose company grew into a leading service supplier for the oil and gas industry. Nassef Sawiris, Chief Executive Officer, Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt, happily waved the Algerian banner after eight profitable years as foreign investor in the country. “Every year we announce significant amounts of new investments.”

Sawiris called attention to one telltale aspect of the labour market. “Algeria uses its entire workforce,” he said. “The role of women in the workforce was one of our biggest surprises. It speaks of a modern society when you can work on all cylinders.” But Hisham Ezz-Al-Arab, Chairman and Managing Director, Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt, was more impressed by local residents when he decided to take his bank into Algeria. “You would talk to taxi drivers and other people,” he said. “Everyone was very well educated. You can talk about violence, but the people I spoke with love their government and want to grow.”

Indeed, participants agreed that political strife poses the biggest threat to regional stability, particularly the war in Iraq, strife in Lebanon and the 60-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some said a resolution of the Palestinian question remains a prerequisite to regional peace and prosperity. A young Saudi summed up the sense of frustration: “Everyone shares a sense that it is not going anywhere. Our lives have been dominated by this conflict.” Palestine may be the stumbling block, but it has proved a handy scapegoat for many. “How much further ahead would we be today if these last eight years had been years of peace and stability, if all this time a sovereign Palestine had been building, extremists and external forces had not had this issue to manipulate?” King Abdullah II of Jordan wondered. Abdulla-Janahi went further, urging regional leaders to stop using Palestine to divert attention from domestic issues. “I think it’s important not to hijack the Palestinian issue,” he said. “Leaders have used the Palestinian issue for them not to create the environment to create entrepreneurship and equal opportunities for people.” Participants tackled the Palestinian conflict on several levels, including a workshop that presupposed peace in 2025 and imagined a process to get there. The consensus was that peace would require a two-state solution that overcomes years of mistrust to find mass support. Israel needs to demonstrate that it is serious about halting encroachments into Palestinian territory by settlers and soldiers. “Did they make up their minds that they need to make peace?” asked Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. On the

other hand, Palestinian leaders need to be able to prevent militant attacks against Israel. “Israel has a right to live in peace,” said US Congressman Brian Baird.

“One of the main things I see when I look at the impact of the Internet, we have about one billion people online and the next 5-10 years another billion will come online, and they’ll come from countries outside North America and Europe. A lot of people hear about the extremes in the Middle East, but who we don’t hear from is ordinary people. But the Internet empowers ordinary people who can communicate to the world.” Jimmy Wales, Founder and Chair Emeritus, Wikia, USA; Young Global Leader

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Leader in the Spotlight – Prime Minister of Pakistan Though politics occupy centre stage in Pakistan at the moment, the economy has not been forgotten. Indeed the resilience of the economy can be traced largely to the consistency of policies even as governments have come and gone amid the political turmoil. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Prime Minister of Pakistan, promises more of the same: “There will be no paradigm shift.” Looking at the numbers cited by Gillani, no paradigm shift seems necessary. Pakistan is projecting record 6% growth this fiscal year. Much of this success can be traced to reforms like deregulation and privatization. Many state-owned enterprises have been sold in discount initial public offerings (IPOs) designed to spread ownership widely among citizens. Continuing in that reformist vein, Gillani plans to include a new energy policy, incentives for

Prospects for peace almost seemed more attainable in Iraq, as participants heard from Iraqi officials how the country had taken great strides towards relative normality. Al Qaeda, though still a threat, has been pushed out of the cities and Iraq’s own security forces are in control of most of the country. Less certain is how US presidential elections might affect America’s commitment to Iraq and regional stability. While neither Democrats nor Republicans are likely to pull out of Iraq entirely, it seemed certain that the US, in response to public fatigue with the war, will reduce its presence in the country after elections. When it comes to the need for conflict resolution and reconciliation, the business community might look to religious and spiritual leaders for guidance. In a private session before the meeting began, members of the Community of West and Islam Dialogue, the Forum’s initiative aimed at fostering interfaith communications, discussed “The Common Word” statement issued last year by 138 Muslim scholars addressed to Christian leaders that sought to underscore common ideals, notably the principle of loving one’s neighbour. The landmark document sparked an ongoing dialogue between representatives of both religions and attracted the interest of Jewish leaders. The Community of West and Islam Dialogue members discussed the importance of solidarity and mutual respect among members of diverse faith communities to achieve peace and the need to dispel the myth that religions are cause for conflict in the world. They also focused on how to better involve the business community in the global interfaith discourse and attract private sector support.

microfinance and the adoption of Basel II standards in the financial sector. To address the commodities crisis, rising prices and food shortages, agriculture will receive special attention. “Agriculture is the backbone of our country,” said the prime minister. Continued economic progress will hinge largely on the partnerships that Pakistan has forged with the international community. In the prime minister’s view, the country is wellplaced geographically to serve as a “bridgehead for cooperation” in the region, including for China. “We are ready to reap the economic benefits of our strategic location,” he said. “A new and democratic Pakistan will have a bright future. Pakistan is now ready for business,” Gillani declared. “I am sure we can deliver this with the help of our friends across the world.”

Many participants said that it is critical to look beyond the obstacles in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and the perceptions among some that a clash of civilizations is brewing in the Middle East. Investors, they argued, should concentrate on the promise that these conflicts

“There are new enlightened leaders, young, that are taking charge with vision and have created fantastic models for business. But these are exceptional. We are not doing enough in investment and education, in reform and better governance practices and we need a partnership between these people and government to do better for the masses – which are the youth.” Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman, Alshaya Group, Kuwait

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Eye on Kazakhstan President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev welcomed participants to a special Kazakhstan Evening on 18 May to herald the country’s growing economic and political ties with the Middle East. “Everybody understands the political importance of the Middle East,” said Marat Tazhin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. “Because we are part of the Muslim world, there are also historical, cultural and human dimensions.” Middle Eastern investors are likely to feel as if they are walking on familiar ground in Kazakhstan, argued Vahan Zanoyan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PFC Energy International, Switzerland. Kazakhstan’s stage of economic development is similar to that of many of the region’s countries 15-18 years ago, he noted. In his opinion, that, along with cultural familiarity, increases the comfort level there for Middle Eastern investors.

Perhaps those factors help explain the US$ 10 billion deal that Gulf Finance House, an investment bank, signed with Kazakhstan to develop the Caspian Energy Hub, a commercial and technical centre for the oil and gas industry designed to attract companies from Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries. “It is an attractive place for oil and gas companies from the Caspian region to put their headquarters,” said Esam Janahi, Chairman, Gulf Finance House, Bahrain, and Young Global Leader.

and post-conflict zones hold for the future. “Arab states, especially oil-rich nations, must seize this opportunity to invest aggressively in the Palestinian people,” urged US President Bush. “The Arab world needs to get its act together and embrace Iraq,” said Iraq Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih. Most of all, though, participants were adamant that governments need to step back and give way to a more democratic, free market form that draws on the ingenuity and self-reliance of their citizens. “Government has to shrink. It’s too fat. They have to let go, they have to privatize, they have to allow entrepreneurship,” said co-chair Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman of Alshaya Group in Kuwait. This is not just any entrepreneurship, but one that uses market-based approaches to solving social and environmental problems – social entrepreneurship. “The challenge for us now is to look at new models that can address poverty and hunger, and marginalization and environmental degradation,” said Paul Rice. “We need a bottom-up approach.” Precedent lies in Islam, with its emphasis on zakat, or charity, and Islamic finance also emphasizes sharing risks. Modern day sensibilities, too, are forcing companies to be more attuned with the needs of their communities. “The new generation is not interested in

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working for a company that is environmentally unfriendly,” said Fadi Ghandour, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Jordan’s Aramex International. Technology has of course become a major catalyst for change. Though only 2% of people in the Middle East have access to the Internet, the rapid spread of cellular phones and satellite television has connected the Arab world to the global economy in ways that cannot be reversed. “We do not hear much from everyday people; the Internet can change that,” said Jimmy Wales, Founder and Chair Emeritus of Wikia, a Young Global Leader and a co-chair. “It is going to change a lot of the political dynamics.” While technology is transcending borders, governments need to help break them down, participants said, by lowering barriers to free trade and investment and working towards a common market of 18 nations bound by language and culture. Only by doing so, they warned, would big investors such as sovereign wealth funds find it worthwhile to sink more assets into the region. “It is high time to break down these barriers,” said Yasser El Mallawany, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Egypt’s EFGHermes Holding. “If we don’t do that, a lot of resources of oil wealth will go again to the West and not be invested regionally.”

Leader in the Spotlight – Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel In a lively session of questions and answers, Tzipi Livni, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, painted a cautiously optimistic picture of successful negotiations that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Livni reminded participants that the original 1947 United Nations partition plan was supposed to lead to the creation of two states. “This is important to say,” she said. “Sometimes there is a perception that the creation of Israel led to the conflict, but the idea was to end the conflict by creating two states” in 1947. “I know that I represent the thinking of the vast majority of Israelis, not just my party, and not just my government, who believe that the creation of a Palestinian state is needed not only because of pressure from the international community but because it is in our own interest,” she said. “We

are trying to reduce the pressure and frustration on both sides. We are determined to continue the negotiations. It would be understandable to not negotiate on the days of funerals [of people killed in the ongoing violence], but I have decided to continue. I expect the Palestinians and the Arab world to do the same.” Livni gave no specifics on the timing of an accord. “If it takes more time, it takes more time,” she said. “We need to build on basic pillars.” She added that a specific timeline could lead to high expectations and frustration should things not move as quickly as planned. “The peace process has to reach an understanding – not just a slogan,” she noted. “We need to make it concrete. It is not enough to come to an agreement that is vague and that cannot be implemented.”

Breaking down the barriers to more sustainable growth will also require broader education, participants said. Investment in vocational schools is necessary to impart relevant skills so that jobseekers can take the jobs created for them. It will certainly require harnessing the 50% of the workforce now left largely on the margins – women. But, most of all, participants concluded, it will require gradually matching the strides taken by the region’s physical infrastructure with its political infrastructure. The Arab world needs fair and efficient legal systems, regulatory transparency, an open media, and free and fair elections. However it may evolve to fit regional realities, it will require democracy. “Democracy has problems, but eventually the voice of the people has to be heard,” said Abdulla-Janahi. “That’s the only way I believe entrepreneurship can start.”

“Over the years, Japan-Middle East relations have developed steadily in the economic realm. However, we would like to build multilayered relationships encompassing areas such as politics, the economy, environment, culture, science and technology to further strengthen our partnership.” Yuriko Koike, Member of the House of Representatives, National Diet of Japan

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Scenarios Series

In more than 10 sessions at the 2008 World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, over 1,500 business, government and civil society leaders from 60 countries considered three scenarios for the world in 2025 – the Hyperlinked World, the Sustainable World and the Multipolar World. These are based on views of how the global economic, political, social and technological environments may develop. They take into account trends that are already playing out today. These are not forecasts but instead are plausible and challenging futures that could become reality as different “Think beyond the assumptions and unthinkable.” uncertainties unfold. Each scenario raises critical issues for the Middle East and all its people that must be addressed if they are to prosper in 2025. Among the key questions posed: How will governments react to the increasing empowerment and activism of civil society? How will power shift as a result? How can businesses balance profitability and sustainability? What position will the Middle East, given its energy resources and financial wealth, carve out for itself in a world with multiple centres of geopolitical and economic power? By tackling these questions of tomorrow, participants aimed to “learn from the future” – to determine what can and should be done now to find new approaches and solutions to even the most intractable global challenges.

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Of the scenarios, participants regarded the Sustainable World as the most challenging probably because it is the one that is based most on “We need to ensure we hope. Even with a 17have pragmatic answers, year time horizon, to and no government in the achieve the level of region today can afford to sustainable practice outlined in this scenario not have a plan for its would require future.” immediate concerted action and considerable collaboration among business, government and civil society stakeholders in the region and across the world. In the Hyperlinked World, meanwhile, participants regarded as unstoppable how technology is driving the greater interconnectedness and openness of the world. With respect to the Multipolar World, they accepted as inevitable the rise in economic stature and geopolitical clout of China, India and other Asian countries. In all three scenarios, civil society is bound to erode the strength of the state. That is certainly a global trend that is already evident today. The opposite page summarizes the main elements of the three scenarios. These are then expanded in the subsequent pages as stories that incorporate the main ideas and insights generated during the Scenarios Series.

The Hyperlinked World The Hyperlinked World of 2025 is a world of possibilities. Advancements in physical, technological and cyber infrastructure cause communication costs to drop sharply, while people, businesses and governments experience a great leap forward in the degree of interconnectedness. The global order in 2025 is governed by networks, communities and interest groups.

The Sustainable World The Sustainable World of 2025 is a world dealing with a soaring population, rapid urbanization and ongoing climate change problems. Water and food scarcities lead to new pockets of instability and force a major global response to emerge into a new sustainable order of politics and business. The emergence of a planet-wide consciousness of the environment forces businesses and governments to adopt new policies of corporate global citizenship and sustainability.

The Multipolar World In the Multipolar World of 2025, the epicentre of the global economy is in the East. New centres of power, fuelled by strong growth, emerge, while global energy demand puts oil exporters under pressure. The trade and investment environment focuses on the new Asian powers that play an ever more assertive role in international politics. The Middle East is engulfed in a geopolitical competition for influence, power and ideas.

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The Hyperlinked World Key Outcomes • Improve governance to increase the transparency of institutions and corporations • Empower people to break barriers and open up society, while paying attention to conflict prevention and resolution • Overhaul the education sector, focusing on the primary, secondary and vocational levels • Reinvent the region’s approach to talent management Key Questions • How might the role of government and business leaders be affected in a Hyperlinked World? Will the state be able to retain power?

In 2025, during the World Economic Forum’s Virtual Annual Meeting, participants gathered in the digital Congress Hall for a plenary session featuring five new leaders from government, business and civil society in the Middle East to discuss how in nearly two decades the region had become a showcase for integration, collaboration and openness in the world. One leader recalled how in late 2008 participants at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Sharm El Sheikh formed the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Education Consortium to promote public-private partnerships (PPPs) to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the region’s education systems. The aim was to ensure that the key competitive advantage of the region – its youthful demographics – was not wasted. The windfall from high oil prices enabled the resource-rich countries to pour investment into upgrading education “The Almighty created facilities, creating a wide range of new skills development centres to endow young people different societies so we with the capabilities to succeed in a global marketplace.

can learn and interact with each other.”

Because of the shortage of expert trainers, virtual classrooms, other means of remote learning and job-experience programmes for students swiftly became important ways to upgrade skills. When combined with state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure, an expanded common market and the greater demand for skilled personnel, it did not take long for the region to become highly interconnected, particularly as dramatic increases in Internet penetration spurred the flow of information and the ability of people to communicate with little fear of censorship. At the Virtual Annual Meeting, speakers noted that the combined impact of the new interconnectedness and PPPs was modest. Yet, as younger leaders emerged, businesses and governments across the region became more receptive to faster change, encouraging pluralism in society and increased media freedom. They also poured even more resources into education, skills development and much-needed infrastructure. A new wave of environmental consciousness sweeping the world led to more Middle East companies committing to deepening their engagement in society and adopting sustainable best practices. One panellist pointed “Our oil of the future is out that in many countries the reform talent. An eBay of talent process did not go will aggregate what is not smoothly. Reactionary forces aggregated today.” and conservative interests attempted to limit both media and civil society activism in the name of stability. Thanks to increasingly sophisticated communications technologies, which were becoming available to a wider range of consumers, political debate raged. A major issue on whether states should “Islamicize” democracy, or democratize Islam had taken a different track. With an almost unlimited ability to communicate with one another, the youth movement, including entrepreneurs, technocrats and NGO leaders, took concerted action to push forward a shift to respectful yet open Islamic governance based on the rule of law. By 2015, thanks to a sea 14 | World Economic Forum on the Middle East

change in attitudes towards governance and education, the Middle East brand was synonymous around the world for dynamism, exploding opportunities, and a highly skilled and expanding workforce.

Later in the discussion, another panellist noted that a significant challenge emerged when employers realized that, in a highly mobile world, what was needed to develop human resources and attract talent to the region was not necessarily sufficient to retain skilled people. Given the massive global demand for skills and increased opportunities for the expanding ranks of virtual workers, the cost of talent on online human resources auctions skyrocketed. As “Incredible India” had done more than a decade earlier, Middle East businesses soon understood the importance of the brand. Governments and regulators across the region worked to establish investment climates conducive to entrepreneurship and high-tech ventures through socially responsible PPPs. Government coffers filled up with petrodollars and peace dividends, as well as funds accumulated through the dramatic growth in Islamic financing. The region strengthened its position as the hub of Islamic banking. With liquidity rising in regional markets, the Gulf States became one of the first stops for entrepreneurs from around the world looking for alternative sources of funding for the “next big thing”.

“A lot of people hear about the extremes in the Middle East, but who we don’t hear from is ordinary people. The Internet empowers ordinary people who can communicate to the world.”

Some on the panel conceded that interconnectedness is a double-edged sword. With the end to censorship thanks to satellite and wireless networks, online content that was reflective, moderate and emphasized proper process became all the more important. With media-on-demand, the decentralization of information enhanced the danger of personal agendas taking precedence over constructive debate. With the gradual acceptance of what became known as “Islam 2.0”, the idea of ijma’a, or consensus building, was updated. More and “Creativity needs an open more people posted their views on blogs and social interaction websites, and projected their environment to exist – the interpretations of the Koran, stirring vigorous debate while underscoring the commonalities sky is the limit.” across the region. Not all the changes wrought by technology enhanced the community spirit across the region. Access to instant communications changed the way people spoke, altered reading patterns, and fundamentally shifted the role of the media and the nature of content. While older generations lamented that people had become antisocial and society seemed to lack a heart and soul, the key indicators for economic and social development told an entirely different story. In 2025, successful businesses integrate workers from all age groups and backgrounds. Managing diversity in age, gender, ethnicity, background and religion became a key success factor. As the session wound down, it was clear that panellists generally agreed that the key to the region’s recent success was the political and economic leadership, which wholeheartedly embraced change at a point when there was no stopping it. Leaders were well aware that knowledge is king and those who possessed talent and information were bound to be resilient in the face of multiple challenges. In the rapidly moving world of the last two decades, decision-makers understood that the skills students learned at school would be obsolete even before they got their degree. As a result, critical thinking, decisionmaking, initiative, ethics, social responsibility and learning skills have become the bedrock of the new curricula. It is a point of pride for the region that students are now well equipped to develop on their own the skills required to succeed in the labour market. In his concluding remarks, Sayed, the newly elected President of Egypt, a former student activist and company CEO, stated: “The key success factor for the Middle East was the leadership that embraced change and education which is critical to preparing our younger generations for this Hyperlinked World. We empowered them and they thought for themselves. They spoke up and finally we all listened and responded. We had to.” Related sessions (session summaries are available on the Forum website): • Managing Mobile Talent • The Power of Popular Collaboration • The DNA of a Future Middle East Business • Preparing Infrastructure for Connectivity

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The Sustainable World Key Outcomes • Encourage a sense of community and build a new social contract on environmental issues • Adopt a multistakeholder approach and establish public-private partnerships • Aim R&D initiatives at finding sustainable solutions to address water scarcity and energy security • Use incentives and fiscal policies (taxes) to encourage active engagement of the private sector • Set environmental benchmarks for players to gain access to markets Key Question • How do you integrate sustainability into business models and still achieve, and even enhance, profitability?

It is May 2025. The World Economic Forum has convened its annual meeting in the Middle East for the first time in Masdar, the zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city that Abu Dhabi launched in 2006. Since the World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Sharm El Sheikh in 2012, the event has taken place only in green venues across the region as an acknowledgement of the Kyoto II Protocol, which came into effect that year. Egypt had a head start. Following the 2008 meeting, the Egyptian government announced that Red Sea resort on the edge of “The time has come to the Sinai Desert would be the country’s first green tourist destination. stop debating the climate

change question and start taking action.”

The 2008 World Economic Forum on the Middle East proved to be a tipping point in the region’s debate over how to balance profitability and sustainability amid discussions on the impact of climate change, the urgent need to change mindsets, and pricing of water and carbon. “Hydro-politics” became even more fierce and continued to prove a major obstacle to sustainable water management and cooperation among countries in the Middle East. The cost of poor-quality water in developing regions was significant. But thanks to the “More Crops with Fewer Drops” campaign, which improved water efficiency and agricultural productivity through the adoption and sharing of new technology, pockets of enhanced use of water emerged and gradually expanded across the Middle East and North Africa. The technology allowed for better measurement of water resources which in turn contributed to appropriate water pricing. This initiative spurred governments to include water as a part of economic policy; review fiscal policies, subsidies and tariffs which diverted valuable resources; and push for integrated water resource management. In 2015, the Forum’s meeting held in Jerusalem, showcased the successful cooperative water management among Jordan, Israel and Palestine along the Dead Sea, and other fruits of the successful conclusion of the Arab-Israeli Peace Accord a few years back. Both government and corporate leaders were inspired to protect their new income-generating assets and resources, now all too aware of the cost and negative impact of inaction on society, the economy and the environment. “Peace and security are Around this time, a number of countries began to focus on carefully developing adventure and cultural tourism. While they were criticized for starting slowly, some governments granted licences only to those companies which met legislated ecological and sustainability standards that reflected Kyoto II requirements. The region’s more enlightened tourism officials, operators and agents worried about the impact of the increasing number of visitors on historic sites and nature preserves but were also concerned about missing out on the growing trend towards green tourism. This heightened the sense of urgency among policy-makers and put pressure on them to select the right solutions.

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prerequisites to introducing integrated water resources management. We need also to change the real cost of services instead of water pricing. We need to charge the cost of providing water.”

Inspired by the success of the pioneering green destinations, more and more cities and resort towns across the Middle East and North Africa followed suit. These new players began to embrace sustainability and implemented rules and regulations either to encourage or force residents and businesses to get on the bandwagon lest they miss their opportunity or lose market share. There was little doubt that the global clientele was becoming better informed and choosing to buy green. As in many developing regions, the rise of mega-cities and the rapid rate of urbanization in the Middle East strained the capacity of existing infrastructure and made achieving sustainability even tougher. The public had little choice but to accept the real cost of water, carbon emissions, and food and energy security. Producers, suppliers and sellers were beginning to embed in the entire value chain the market-driven prices of natural resources and the consequences of environmental degradation. Major developers negotiated with governments and financial institutions to make adjustments in lending and financing arrangements for the estimated 10% increase in cost for green development. Meeting these challenges created new opportunities for local investment, many of them unforeseen. Savvy entrepreneurs seized the day. “I knew that when I had the money to start a company, it would have to be a green enterprise,” said Soraya, a 33-year-old Egyptian entrepreneur, during a session at the 2025 Masdar meeting. “I believed then that I could make big profits and still do the right thing.” She recalled how as a teenager in Cairo she heard about the sustainability discussions at the 2008 World Economic Forum on the Middle East from a friend who had been among the Arab youths invited to participate. Soraya flew to Masdar from the Middle East’s first wholly sustainable airport in Muscut on one of the three solar-powered planes in the fleet of eco-ME Airways, which she owns. In her session, she told participants how she turned failure into good fortune after her first employer went bust. The bankruptcy resulted from the company misreading the social movement and policies to embrace sustainability and launching a non-green version of a new resort despite opposition. Suddenly unemployed, Soraya met an investor who shared her dream of creating a green venture. She presented her with the concept of eco-ME, an environmentally responsible airline that would link green destinations with the major ecotourist markets in the world. Five years ago, the airline started flying between Munich and Sharm El Sheikh, connecting Egypt’s premier green resort with one of Europe’s most environmentally conscious countries. Later, the carrier began serving other green destinations in the Middle East and Africa.

“You have to reduce the risk of At the Masdar meeting, Soraya told a new generation of Arabs that the Sustainable World is reality. “Today, sustainability has to be part of everything we conflict in order for business flows do,” she concluded. “The main ingredients for sustainability are the sense of to take place.” urgency, proactive governance, accessible technology, educated consumers and, certainly for the Middle East, the maintenance of peace and stability to allow for regional collaboration. It will take time before we know we have reversed the problem of global warming and climate change. And, with fossil fuel supplies running out, we have to continue developing alternative sources of energy and diversifying our economies. Now that we have had relative peace for more than a decade, we are enjoying unprecedented growth in tourism. Thanks to the new International Carbon Fund, we know the cost of carbon; we know the price of indifference. So now is the time to go beyond green and I guarantee that you will tap a huge market that for so long nobody thought was there.” Related sessions (session summaries are available on the Forum website): • Destination Middle East – Sustainable Tourism for 2025 • Fuelling the Future • How Much Water Do You Eat? • Managing Urbanization in the Middle East

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The Multipolar World Key Outcomes • Diversify and better manage the region’s sovereign wealth funds • Balance alliances and do not focus exclusively on developing relationships with Asia • Do not let security institutions dominate policy-making in the Middle East and minimize security paranoia; aim instead to deepen regional economic integration • Even as the region’s economies grow, preserve the cultural identity of the Middle East • Understand the implications of civil society or non-state actors gaining strength and voice Key Question • What does multipolarity mean in terms of global power relationships? Is what is developing not in fact a non-polar world?

It is 25 April 2025. China’s best known entrepreneur is undoubtedly Rui Anzhou, the 44-year-old founder of Tianjin-based DigiT, makers of PalmTac, the hottest telecom product in the world – a tiny featherweight IT marvel that sits in the palm. The tiny device is a mobile phone, laptop, PDA, USB drive and MP3 player rolled into one. On the back of brisk global sales, DigiT is one of the fastest-growing companies in China and the world. Since the firm was listed on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Global Exchange in 2020, its stock price has doubled every year. While investors have been attracted to Rui’s company for its killer product, what they really like is his business model. In 2008, when Rui was a business undergraduate at Shanghai, a new business model discussed at a session in the World Economic Forum on the Middle East inspired him. CHIMEA (for China, India, the Middle East and Africa) is a concept that combines China’s manufacturing prowess, India’s “An increasingly multipolar world offers clear advantages for competitive technological expertise, the strategically well positioned Middle East’s wealth and companies from our region looking for energy supplies, and Africa’s natural resources.

growth opportunities beyond their national borders. We recognize the huge potential for our local businesses and as a government are actively looking ‘eastwards’.”

Only 20 years ago, Silicon Valley was the undisputed epicentre of innovation. Today, there are many such specialist centres driving new ideas and technologies, while Washington DC and Brussels have given away to geopolitical dominance to multiple centres of gravity around the globe. CHIMEA could not have happened without this shift in the technological, geopolitical and economic landscape.

Interestingly, China did not emerge as the hegemonic power or military threat that some experts at the turn of the millennium feared. Predictions of the country’s superpower status were premature. The Asian giant has had to orchestrate enormous efforts to enhance its ability to innovate, increase energy efficiency, expand capabilities in the logistics sector, and leverage information technology and financial services to push up productivity. To be sure, China’s emergence resulted in a major reordering of geopolitical power alignments. Yet, China’s immigration and emigration levels had consistently risen for years, providing the Chinese with sufficient exposure to world-class standards and opportunities for middle management talent to learn global best practices. The country still has not risen to the top of the global economic league table, ranked by size or competitiveness, although that day may be closer. By 2015, the 10 ASEAN nations had coalesced into a single liberalized market with a steady GDP growth rate in the range of 5% to 7% per year. Intra-ASEAN trade ballooned. With a wealth of opportunities opening up for the new ASEAN community, businesses had to become more flexible and dynamic to cope with fast-shifting patterns in demand. The region took advantage of the desire among many investors and entrepreneurs not to put all their baskets in the China market. Some countries focused on developing global niches in which they could excel. Malaysia, for example, solidified its position as the top Islamic financial centre outside the Middle East, especially for issuing sharia-compliant sovereign and corporate bonds. It achieved this by constantly raising transparency, disclosure and governance standards.

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By the time entrepreneur Rui had started to turn his business concept into reality in 2015, a second wave of emerging countries surfaced, leveraging the strengths of each region to focus on high-growth markets, while limiting exposure or even avoiding the lowgrowth developed economies. With the rise of new centres of gravities, there was sharp growth in global trade, particularly between developing regions. The main challenge was to ensure that trade was mutually beneficial. The competition among incumbent and emerging poles posed risks to multilateral institutions, threatening to undermine free trade deals and shake the international community’s commitment to trade liberalization. The Middle East and Africa fought over human resources. Multiplying centres of economic and geopolitical power in developing regions finely balanced each other, while at the same time drawing influence away from Western incumbents. This growth increased the global demand for energy, further fuelling wealth accumulation in the Middle East and increasing the region’s role as a major force in global investment. Despite efforts to develop alternative energies, oil and gas remained the most important energy mix. There was no significant spike in the demand for renewable and alternative energies. Inevitably, scrutiny of the Middle East’s sovereign wealth funds and pressure on them to behave responsibly continued to build up wherever they invested. To thrive in this emerging Multipolar World, it was not sufficient for the Middle East to rely on a narrow base of energy and finance. The Middle East and the rest of Asia were natural partners. The Middle East had the energy resources to fuel Asia’s high growth, while Asia – China in particular – was an attractive market for investors from the Middle East. Investors from the Middle East proved to be active players in the energy sector as well as in infrastructure and leisure. Meanwhile, Asian enterprises looked to the Middle East as a hub of operations in the global production chain. Adding to the appeal of the complementary relationship was the fact that neither side wanted to impose values or interfere in the interests of the other.

“All of us will not evolve in a linear fashion. The patterns of competitive advantage will shift over time so business and governments will need to adapt.”

With the CHIMEA model at the back of his mind, Rui capitalized on the changing geopolitical and economic landscape. He brought together a team of Indian and Chinese engineers that produced a working prototype. He took that and his business proposal to a business school classmate in Dubai who put him in touch with potential investors in the Gulf including the chief investment officer of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. Within weeks, he had received the funding needed to launch the PalmTac from a consortium of investors from China, Hong Kong and the Middle East. DigiT had to decide where to source its raw materials and components for the new product and where to manufacture it. Rui looked to Africa to provide some of the metals required in tiny amounts in each unit, while he went to Malaysia and the Philippines for some of the microscopic components. Assembly would be in DigiT’s newest factory in China, about an hour outside Chengdu. By early 2018, the company was ready to start production, going to the market that summer.

“Business needs to collaborate and compete at the same time to survive in a complex and everchanging environment.”

Rui rolled out his new product in China first, followed by the rest of Asia and the Middle East. At the end of 2018, the PalmTac was the best-selling electronic product across Asia. By 2019, Rui had launched in Africa, with a big event in Johannesburg. DigiT distributors in North America and Europe urged him to bring the PalmTac to their markets, but Rui told them that his manufacturing facilities in China would have difficulty keeping up with demand once Africans could buy the PalmTac. He was right.

In early 2025, Rui went to Abu Dhabi to meet shareholders. Asked to address a group of young entrepreneurs from across the Middle East, Rui had this advice: “The key to success is to understand how the world is changing and to take advantage of those changes. There are still geopolitical risks. As an adept entrepreneur in this Multipolar World, one needs to develop supply chains that leverage the strength of each sourcing country. You need to be flexible to stay competitive and to meet demand in a crisis. Finally, keep rethinking the role the Middle East can play in the global market. Stay diversified – and never be complacent. The world keeps changing and you have to change with it.” Related sessions (session summaries are available on the Forum website): • Courting the Middle East • Risky Business? Setting a Course for the East 19 | World Economic Forum on the Middle East

The

WorkSpace

Four WorkSpace sessions were held at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. The sessions highlighted topics important to the region − social entrepreneurship and business development, peace negotiations, sustainable green development, and the future of the Middle East based on scenarios predicting the future in 2025. Participants had the opportunity to interact closely with regional and international leaders from the public and private sector.

Unblocking the Supply Chain for Green Development

The Best New Business Venture for the Middle East

This WorkSpace identified the key obstructions to creating greener supply chains for urban development. In a series of small breakout groups, participants built their own supply chains focusing on the specific needs of, and constraints and enablers in, the Middle East. Supply chains for a green building, desalination plant, solar park, urban waste recycling facility and public transport facility were mapped, compared and analysed to identify the main bottlenecks.

Participants in this WorkSpace explored different socially entrepreneurial business models to understand how they address societal needs. Featured social entrepreneurs showcased their businesses that addressed complex and diverse topics such as fair trade, employment for disabled persons, sustainable development, and providing education and jobs training.

Key Outcomes • Participants determined whether they can raise awareness of the interconnectivity and complexity in the supply chain. They can achieve true insights of where the bottlenecks are and find ways to create a greener supply chain. • Pricing signals must be injected into the supply chain for urban development so as to expose the true costs and allow consumers to make fully informed choices. • The current infrastructure is inadequate to encourage adoption of green technologies such as solar generated power, wind power and desalination. This session provided some remarkable insights into the green supply chain interconnections, complexities and bottlenecks. Those insights will be extremely valuable to the Forum’s ongoing sustainable development workstreams and initiatives.

Small groups discussed nuances of the various business models and then worked together to build their own venture ideas. They created business models to tackle such issues as sustainable food production, the bottom of the pyramid, renewable resources, access to water, investing in health, bridging the skills gap and underutilized human resources. Key Outcomes • One group suggested helping the environment and bridging the skills gap through the establishment of a green hotel, which would offer organic food, chemicalfree laundering, solar-generated energy, water recycling and eco-friendly building materials. It would create jobs and build awareness in the community through supporting and growing greener businesses and training workers. • One group addressed sustainable food production by creating an agricultural franchise – SAND2FOOD. This company woud be a “Pizza Hut” for farmers, providing them with a toolkit advising them on sustainable land use, seeds, water conservation, packaging, transportation and labour standards.

– Ralph R. Peterson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CH2M Hill Companies, USA

The green revolution passed by the Middle East. There have been huge advances in agricultural production that have not trickled down. – Mariam Al Foudery, Vice-President, Corporate Social

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Responsibility, Agility, Kuwait.

Building Peace, Breaking Taboos Inspired by personal insights from Tony Blair, Middle East Quartet Envoy, United Nations, this WorkSpace addressed an issue essential to regional peace and stability: the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and the role of taboos in that process. Blair shared his experiences from the Northern Ireland conflict and drew parallels to the current negotiations. Facilitated by Daniel Shapiro, participants divided into groups to tackle the taboo topics that could impede progress - Jerusalem’s status, the right of refugee return, holy sites, and the emotions surrounding the use of the words “Israel” and “Palestine”. The groups also projected forward to 2025 assuming peace had been achieved and described how they got there. Key Outcomes • Need to engage and involve those who were not at the table to create ownership of a negotiated solution on both sides. How can we engage the people at the fringe of the process? • Defining the terms is a difficult task. What do we mean by refugees? Who has left their “homes”, when? This conflict has a long history and we must recognize each side’s valid desire for recognition of their positions.

Scenarios Series Conclusion: What Can We Learn from the Future? This WorkSpace was the culmination of the Scenario Series. Participants looked at the various predicted future worlds of 2025 – Hyperlinked, Sustainable and Multipolar – and thought about the strategic options, challenges and choices that they must address today to achieve a positive future. Moderated by Nik Gowing, Main Presenter, BBC World News, United Kingdom, participants pinpointed the ups and downs to the future scenarios. They drew comparisons across the various futures to see if similar challenges and opportunities existed and to identify how to best capitalize on restricted resources. Key Outcomes • Sustainability must be brought to the top of the agenda in the Middle East. It is simply not the agenda of most regional businesses. Sustainability is viewed as an externalized cost rather than part of doing business. We must shift to taking a longer view on what growth means. The view now is too short term. Growth must have sustainable focus. • Education will be key in a hyperlinked society not only to raise awareness but to create a sense of cultural and local identity. • One challenge in the Middle East is that security institutions dominate policy-making. We should aim to minimize security paranoia between countries by building economic alliances to overcome security fears.

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Acknowledgements

The World Economic Forum recognizes the support of the following companies as Partners of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East:

Strategic Partners

Regional Partners

AMD Bahrain Economic Development Board Bain & Company Barclays Booz Allen Hamilton BP CA Cisco Systems Citi Clifford Chance The Coca-Cola Company Deloitte Dubai Holding Dubai World DuPont Emirates Group Ernst & Young Heidrick & Struggles HP Infosys Technologies Intel Corporation Kudelski Group Lehman Brothers McKinsey & Company Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) METRO Group NBC Universal The Olayan Group Renault-Nissan Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) SK Group Thomson Reuters Travelport UBS Xenel Group

Abraaj Capital Agility Alghanim Industries ARTOC Group of Investment & Development EFG-Hermes Holding Emaar Gulf Air Hikma Pharmaceuticals Investcorp National Bank of Kuwait Telecom Egypt

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Meeting Supporters Arab African International Bank CH2M HILL Citadel Capital Commercial International Bank (CIB) TIBCO

Official Carrier EgyptAir

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Contributors

Børge Brende is Managing Director, Regional Agenda Teams, of the World Economic Forum. Sherif El Diwany is Director, Head of Middle East, at the Forum. The World Economic Forum on the Middle East was under his direct responsibility, with Daniel Davies, Associate Director, Middle East, and Victor Willi, Manager, Middle East, responsible for Programme Development; Denise Burnet, Director, Head of Events, and Meeting Coordinator; Tareq Bouchuiguir and Rim Lemsyeh, Community Relations Managers, Middle East. The report writers, Wayne Arnold, William Hinchberger and Alejandro Reyes, and Chiemi Hayashi, Project Manager, Scenarios Series and Lena Hagelstein worked with Samantha Tonkin, Senior Media Manager, to produce the report. The World Economic Forum would like to express its appreciation to the summary writers for their work at the meeting. Session summaries are available on the World Economic Forum website (www.weforum.org). Associate Director, Editing: Nancy Tranchet Design and Layout: Kamal Kimaoui, Associate Director, Production and Design Photographs: Shawn Baldwin, Pedro Costa Gomes, Norbert Schiller and Dana Smilie

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This publication is also available electronically on the World Economic Forum website at the following address: World Economic Forum on the Middle East report: http://www.weforum.org/summitreports/middleeast2008 (HTML) The electronic version of this report allows access to a richer level of content from the meeting, including photographs, session summaries and videos of selected sessions. The report is also available as a PDF: http://www.weforum.org/summitreports/middleeast2008.pdf (PDF) Other specific information on the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 18-20 May can be found at the following links: Meeting News Session Summaries Photographs Programme Interviews Partners Videos

www.weforum.org/middleeast2008 www.weforum.org/middleeast2008/summaries www.pbase.com/forumweb/middleeast2008 www.weforum.org/middleeast2008/programme www.weforum.org/middleeast2008/regionalupdate www.weforum.org/middleeast2008/partners www.weforum.org/middleeast2008/webcasts

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)