The World Economic Forum on the Middle East took place earlier this week in Sharm El-Sheikh. A state-of-the-art convention centre, hurriedly constructed in eight months to the surprise of everyone, hosted the event. If anything, the forum proved that Egypt could do anything it puts its mind to, report Sherine Bahaa and Niveen Wahish from Egypt's top Red Sea resort All is well... The World Economic Forum failed to make headlines, but was an important meeting of minds The fourth annual meeting for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Middle East, the first to take place in Egypt, was supposed to be an economic event. However, the WEF in Sharm El-Sheikh proved essentially to be political in nature. The event was described as a success by the participants -- officials and businessmen alike. Over three consecutive days, around 1,200 participants, political and business leaders as well as representatives of civil society met to chart a better future for the region. In his opening address, President Hosni Mubarak highlighted the importance of confronting one's problems. "The region has to address its conflicts and tensions, including the situation in Iraq, Iran's nuclear programme, tension between Syria and Lebanon, and the Palestinian question," he remarked. Mubarak stressed that the Palestinian issue would remain "the core concern for peace and stability in the Middle East". The buzz word was "dialogue". Participants also stressed the need for reform. Under the headline "The promise of a new generation" Egypt had to prove to the world that it can master the industry of international conferences. The conference took place only a month after the triple bombings in Dahab, Sinai. This is a critical point in Egyptian history. A lot of issues are at stake; tense security situation, political reform issues, human rights violations and strained US- Egyptian relations. Open talk about strained Egyptian- United States relations also featured at the WEF. Discussions were frank and participants other than speakers or moderators felt free to criticise their points of views. Security was on its highest alert turning the Red Sea resort into a military barracks -- the area surrounding the conference was sealed off from the entire resort. Sharm El-Sheikh residents were certainly relieved to see a peaceful end of the WEF meeting. Also in attendance were Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, and the Malaysian, Lebanese and Turkish prime ministers whose commentaries were greeted with loud rounds of applause. Palestinian participants included President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen. Israeli participants included Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Tzini Levi. Also present was US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. The figures sought after by the international media, however, were a handful -- Zoellick, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Deputy Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres caught most of the limelight. The conference originally started out with a focus on the business agenda, laying the blueprint for a more prosperous region. Experts stressed that the oil boom should be made the most of for the benefit of the region. The slump in the performance of Arab stock markets was explained as a natural evolution of growing markets and of contagion resulting from greater integration with the world. However speakers stressed the need for the strengthening of capital market regulations and greater transparency to avoid volatility as well as strengthening investor culture. Participants hoped to promote the region as a favourite destination for tourism and investment. Business meetings between Arab businessmen and their foreign counterparts and meetings between Egyptian officials and their foreign counterparts produced tangible results. The aim was not to announce any actual deals, but to lay the groundwork for future cooperation. Implicitly sending a message to the US, Mubarak further challenged Washington to "work towards a world that fosters multilateralism, abides by international legitimacy and steers away from unilateral actions". He warned that the world must overcome the widening gap between rich and poor and block escalating threats of terrorism. Mubarak criticised the double standards of the US nuclear policy -- Washington's resolute silence on the Israeli nuclear arsenal and its drive to deprive Iran of a nuclear programme. The forum has no power to take decisions but it could be viewed as a platform for "enhancing dialogue with Asia, Europe and the US, and a blossoming interchange within the region itself shows that the Middle East is genuinely starting to take its place in the global community. The rich array of outcomes and achievements from this meeting has shown what a key role the World Economic Forum can play in helping with this process," said Sherif El-Diwany, director of Middle East and North Africa at the WEF. Participants in forum symposiums Sunday at the WEF's regional meeting talked about ways to increase dialogue and expand democracy in Arab nations, although the discussions sometimes butted into regional realities. One of the interesting symposiums was "Enhancing dialogue, strengthening cooperation", which brought together Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora and the Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. "Globalisation had dismantled borders so we need to address our differences between and within countries," said Nazif. Erdogan called on regional leaders to engage in more dialogue with Syria, noting Turkey's positive relationship in creating a "culture of dialogue" with all its neighbours. "Dialogue is a methodical way of communicating; We need to look at it as a mechanism." Participants asked Erdogan "to recommend to his Egyptian counterpart the main components" of real dialogue to establish democracy. Erdogan and Badawi agreed that "inclusion" was the key word. "You have to include everyone because if you exclude someone you would be getting the enemy out of him so why create enmity in the first place," Badawi concurred. Erdogan added, however, that dialogue is not an end in itself -- it is only a tool to other greater objective; Democracy." Malaysia was regarded by many as a model for the world. The majority of its people are Muslim but it is a multicultural and multireligious nation. "Real dialogue which is not a monologue," said Badawi, "no one is marginalised -- no one is out of the circle, to continue moving towards a "common progressive future". Badawi pointedly called for engagement with Hamas. "Let us not isolate them," he said to loud applause from participants. Closing the forum, Queen Rania of Jordan invited participants to come to Jordan next year saying that discussions have to continue. "There are the values we have to instil such as tolerance, respect for human rights and property rights, that make the processes successful, sustainable and genuine."
