CAIRO: Under the theme "Committed to Improving the State of the World, the World Economic Forum (WEF) will come to Egypt in May 2008 for the second time, bringing an influential network of almost 2,000 global leaders to Sharm El-Sheikh. Marking the official start of preparations for the event, Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid signed Monday a Memorandum of Understanding with Andre Schneider, managing director of the WEF. After the signing, a team of public and private sector individuals, media representatives and other experts will begin working with their counterparts at the WEF to oversee and coordinate the logistics for the upcoming event. According to the Ministry of Trade, the WEF chose Egypt after the considerable success it had hosting the event in May 2006, when the World Economic Forum on the Middle East held its first summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. The May 2006 forum brought together more than 1,200 business, government, and civil society leaders from 50 countries. The forum hosted President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Minister of Trade Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, Queen Rania of Jordan, as well as Malaysian, Lebanese, and Turkish prime ministers. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni engaged in the highest level talks to take place between the two governments at that time. Also present was Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, President of Citicorp Holdings William Rhodes, and Chairman of Orascom Telecom Naguib Sawiris. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the WEF is an independent international organization that has been committed to improving the state of the world for over 30 years by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. A number of issues were addressed during the three-day meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2006 relating to political reform, globalization, trade and economic prosperity, social entrepreneurship, education, and women's role in the workforce. The forum originally began with a focus on the business agenda, laying the blueprint for a more prosperous region. The event also witnessed the launch of several initiatives: the Young Global Leaders community, which created a dialogue between regional ministers and the younger generation of the region; the Egypt Education Initiative, which benefited 820,000 students in 2,000 schools; and the Women Leaders Program, which brought together women ministers from across the region to address the region s gender gap. "The Forum s choice to return to Egypt next year reflects the country's strong economic performance and the continued success of Egypt's ongoing reform program, underway for the past three years now, the trade ministry said in a statement. "It is recognition of the important role that Egypt continues to play in achieving peace and stability in the region. By hosting its worldwide network of policy-makers, thinkers and business [figures], the WEF will bring the 'its global debate' to Egypt at an important time of change for the country.
