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Amre Moussa, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, said: “We will wait to see if they put something serious on the table.” The Arab proposal calls for Israel to withdraw from all disputed territories, to recognize ”an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” and to agree to a “just solution” for the Palestinian refugees. In exchange, 22 Arab countries would recognize the state of Israel and normalize relations with the country.
“We need to reach out to each other,” Hatch said. While the US has made many mistakes, he acknowledged, “our intentions are honorable.” Tariq Al Hashimi, Vice-President of Iraq, asked for help from Iraq’s neighbours, first to reconcile internal differences and then to resolve external conflicts. It is an opportunity for everyone, he said, to sort out a wide array of problems that spill across national borders. “Unfortunately,” he acknowledged, “there are outside powers who are taking advantage of the chaos to pursue their own personal and political agendas. If we stop them, the future will be brighter.”
Fadi Ghandour, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aramex International, Jordan, put Middle Eastern business on notice: they must step up to the plate to influence regional development. "Business cannot leave development only to government and not-for-profit agencies." The majority of wealth that came out of the first oil boom went into “real estate, trade, gambling and stock markets,” Taher said. This time around, there is a “paradigm shift”. Taher called on the international community to collaborate with the Middle East and urged governments to help by formulating policies and procedures to make private sector fly. “Then the GCC and Middle East could be the best economy in the world,” she said.
Quotes
H.H. Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force
Saeed Al Muntafiq, Executive Chairman, Tatweer, and Chairman of the Board, Young Arab Leaders, United Arab Emirates; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East
Fadi Ghandour, Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East; Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Aramex International, Jordan
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East; Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mubadala Development Company, United Arab Emirates
Co-Chairs Join the Middle East Conversation
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The theme of this year's World Economic Forum on the Middle East, Putting Diversity to Work, spotlights efforts to accelerate economic diversification in a time of prosperity for the region, while emphasizing the urgency of promoting peace and understanding in a region of great religious and ethnic diversity.
World Economic Forum on the Middle East closes with optimism
The Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East have closed the meeting with a call to business, political and civil society leaders who participated to harness the optimism generated to enable change. “Optimism, urgency and a sense of responsibility are sentiments I walk away with,” said Co-Chair Saeed Al Muntafiq Executive Chairman, Tatweer, and Chairman of the Board, Young Arab Leaders. “The opportunity is to take this optimism and try to do something about it. Now it is up to the private sector and others to ask how they can contribute.”
A unified, stable Iraq would be better for everyone, said Mohammad Larijani, Director, Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics of Iran, in a session on the final day of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. He said he hoped that the upcoming talks between the US and Iran could ease tensions and encourage deeper cooperation. Orrin Hatch, Senator from Utah (Republican), USA, expressed Washington’s desire to work together to stabilize Iraq and the entire region.
H.M. Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Member of the Forum's Foundation Board, urged public-private partnerships to create a deeper culture of giving and volunteering in the Middle East. At a session of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, H.M. Queen Rania paid tribute to the region’s traditional religious tenet of giving alms and made an impassioned plea to reach beyond charity to create a culture of giving driven by civic engagement, social responsibility and joint action.
To achieve stability in the Middle East will require inclusive solutions and solidarity among Arabs and Muslims, leaders from the region said on the second day of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. In addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the civil strife in Iraq, the continuing unrest in Afghanistan and any other sources of instability, regional and international players must be engaged in the process. “Very often we have seen the high costs of exclusion,” said Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. “We must bring everybody to the table.” Added Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan: “We would not have been able to achieve what we have in Afghanistan in the last five years without the presence of the international community and the cooperation of our neighbours.”
The World Economic Forum has launched its latest regional scenario study at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East at the Dead Sea. The study, The GCC Countries and the World: Scenarios to 2025 , examines three possible futures for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The report, which is the result of an 18-month research process involving over 300 experts from the Gulf countries and beyond, outlines three scenarios for the development of the GCC region from 2007 to 2025.
King Adullah of Jordan opened the World Economic Forum on the Middle East with a rallying call to "end violence, to make peace, and to build the regional economic powerhouse of tomorrow." "That future begins here and now with a leadership vision and proven capability assembled in this room and action that can be catalysed by your dialogue and partnership," the King told more than 1,200 participants from 56 countries - including 16 heads of state - gathered in a new convention centre on the shores of the Dead Sea.
The Co-Chairs of the Meeting took the stage after King Abdullah's opening address and immediately began discussing the King’s exhortation to plan for the day after peace. "This is a region with enormous potential and I for one am enormously optimistic," said Hans-Paul Bürkner, President and CEO, The Boston Consulting Group, echoing the positive assessment of the Meeting’s Co-Chairs.
The World Economic Forum has launched the Israeli-Palestinian Business Council. A key group of Palestinian and Israeli CEOs launched the council at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. The council, consisting of some of the foremost business leaders in Israel and Palestine, will advance the relationship between the two business communities and, ultimately, assist the region to move towards durable peace and coexistence.
The Middle East@Risk report, released by the Forum's Global Risk Network with the Gulf Research Center, provides an assessment of the Middle East's vulnerability to selected global risks. The report looks at the potential consequences of several major global risks on the Middle East, and takes a "deep dive" into four: a global asset price collapse, a Chinese economic hard landing, a retrenchment from globalization and geostrategic instability. None of these are predictions, but plausible scenarios for the future.
"The reality is that as this money comes into the system, are we going to invest it sensibly? One way is to diversify away from oil into renewable energy and a lot of countries are actively taking steps."
"Iran was and is always a part of the solutions to the crises in the region. We are not talking about the elimination of any nation or country.."
"As regional players we have a role to play in that we lead from within."
"The private sector in Saudi Arabia is quite active and there are a number of government initiatives to increase that. I am optimistic about the role of the private sec and their contribution to sustainable growth."
"The region as a whole is going through a very concerted effort to diversify away from oil and there are a lot of investments in making an economy that is sustainable. We are opening up and we are pushing forward with reforms and by making the economy transparent and competitive, we can more effectively compete."
"I see the World Economic Forum on the Middle East as signalling to the world that the leaders from the region are ready to take their fate into their own hands."
"Our responsibility as business leaders is not just to make a profit but how to contribute to community development."
"The private sector needs to have a much bigger say in charting the future of the region."
"I see this as one of most exciting periods the region is going through. The region has its challenges but at the same time there’s been a lot of good things that we’ve experienced - the role of women, in economic reforms and more importantly with youth there is a sense of hope."
"The World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Jordan will focus on diversity."
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