Al-Ahram Establishment held a prestigious celebration at the Marriott Hotel's Aida Hall on the occasion of the launch of the Egypt Economic Development Conference, which coincides with the daily Al-Ahram celebrating 140 years since its founding. The ceremony was presented by Al-Ahram's daily Managing Editor Ezzat Ibrahim who welcomed the gathering. The ceremony opened with a documentary illustrating the history of Al-Ahram since its establishment on 5 August 1875 in Alexandria by the two Lebanese brothers Bishara and Selim Takla. The first issue of the paper came out on 5 August 1876. It started as a weekly, then became a daily newspaper in January 1881. The documentary displayed the various publications and electronic sites of Al-Ahram in addition to its gigantic printing houses and other segments such as its advertising agency and Al-Ahram Canadian University. In his speech, Al-Ahram's Editor-in-Chief Mohamed Abdel-Hadi Allam assured the audience of Egypt's capabilities in development. In her address, Minister of International Cooperation Naglaa Al-Ehwani said the criteria for success of the economic conference was in placing Egyptian investment on the international map confirming Egypt's clear vision via its government and political leadership. Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said, “It's very important to prepare society to the significance of investment in general and for the Economic Development Conference in particular at this time, as well as the necessity of overcoming obstacles faced by major investors in Egypt to encourage more investment.” Attending the festivities was political thinker and former editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram (1957-1974) Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Al-Ahram Board Chairman Ahmed Al-Sayed Al-Naggar, former presidential candidate Amr Moussa, former head of the Press Syndicate Makram Mohamed Ahmed, Al-Ahram Weekly's Editor-in-Chief Galal Nassar, Editor-in-Chief of Ahram Online Fouad Mansour, TV presenter Khairi Ramadan, poet Ibrahim Dawoud, filmmaker Dawoud Abdel-Sayed, actor Ezzat Al-Alaili and a galaxy of ministers and Arab and foreign ambassadors.
