CAIRO: Merrill Lynch Middle East and North Africa (Mena) held a one-on-one Investor Forum from Feb. 10-13, 2007, in the Red Sea resort town of El Gouna, Red Sea, Egypt. This conference was designed to bring together senior portfolio managers of Merrill Lynch's top institutional clients and CEOs/CFOs of important corporations in the Mena region. Merrill Lynch, whose client assets total approximately $1.6 trillion, is one of the world's foremost wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies. With offices in 37 countries and territories worldwide, Merrill Lynch is a leading global trader and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals in all corners of the globe. Countries represented this year include Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The Investor Forum began with a welcome function held on Saturday evening, Feb. 10. The remaining three days of the conference were earmarked for one-on-one meetings between senior officials of major raisers and providers of capital, affording top Merrill Lynch institutional clients the opportunity to communicate directly with the leaders of the companies in which they are interested in investing. The face-to-face, senior-level meetings that form the backbone of this conference are prime venues in which each of the 79 companies attending the event will present its strategies, potential for growth, and investment merits to a number of major investors in a single location. Conference-goers were housed, and all meetings held, at the Mövenpick Resort and Spa El Gouna which, in addition to extensive conference and business-event facilities, boasts attractions including three kilometers of beachfront, numerous pools, top-of-the-line health and spa facilities, and premium restaurants and bars. The Mövenpick is just one of three five-star hotels in El Gouna. The town's public relations team also put together a specialized entertainment program for attendees that included themed dinners and an array of sporting opportunities that included diving, golf and kite surfing. The decision of Merrill Lynch to hold this event in El Gouna evolved from the participation of Orascom Hotels and Development (OHD), El Gouna's parent company, in a Merrill Lynch event in New York. As OHD's flagship for similar projects worldwide, El Gouna is a town known for its award-winning architecture, environmental-friendliness, and exemplary infrastructure. El Gouna is home to a population of over 10,000 as well as 14 hotels, highly-praised restaurants and nightclubs, a sailing marina, and an 18-hole USPGA golf course. The town's popularity as a business-event destination has grown steadily in recent years due to the excellent accommodations and conference facilities of its major hotels as well as to its comprehensive high-tech services, wide array of leisure and recreational activities, and easy accessibility from in-country, regional, and European locations. Vice President for Marketing Mayar Abdel Aziz said, "The trust shown by Merrill Lynch in hosting the conference in El Gouna exemplifies the readiness of OHD towns worldwide to facilitate and host such events. We are confident that industry leaders throughout the Middle East will recognize Egypt's investment potential in general and OHD's role in the market specifically.
