100 world leaders to meet at 3rd Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia

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This is the largest major international economic event to be held before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The GCF is the world's biggest economic forum on competitiveness, and aims to set the agenda for the global economic future. The forum provides an international platform to raise awareness of challenges facing competitiveness, critically evaluating the micro and macroeconomic requirements for becoming globally competitive. The Forum was founded in 2006 under the patronage of His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz.

Featured speakers include President and CEO of Renault and Nissan Carlos Ghosn, former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahatir bin Mohamad, Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Additionally, former Irish President and UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Mary Robinson will be speaking alongside Airbus President and CEO Thomas Enders , SABIC CEO Mohamed Al-Mady and multi Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps.

This year's event will focus on responsible competitiveness covering topics such as the global outlook for 2009 and the risks that are expected, thriving entrepreneurship in the current crisis and energy and the environment.

GCF 2009 occurs at a time when Saudi Arabia has just announced a record budget surplus for 2008 and record spending for 2009, largely due to major infrastructure projects and increased spending on education and healthcare.

GCF 2009 will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between speakers and attendees, making this a valuable exercise in business networking at a time of negative sentiment in global markets. This highlights the real business opportunity created by the GCF - combining leaders from a range of fields and a platform for discussion on the world's economy.

Amr Dabbagh, Governor of SAGIA, said:

'The challenges posed by the current global economic conditions have caused great uncertainty in business, the world over. The GCF will bring together 100 of the most talented and experienced leaders from a variety of sectors including business, finance, politics and sport to discuss solutions for taking world business forward in a responsible and competitive manner. With a sound financial base, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be at the forefront of driving sustainable, responsible, competitive economic growth.'

Abdul Mohsien Al Badr, CEO of GCF 2009, said, 'We have brought together thought leaders from around the world to discuss 20 global topics including the current credit crisis and ways forward, eliminating red tape, the green agenda, the energy evolution and competitiveness. Highly respected and successful attendees include Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan, Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Nissan and Michael Phelps, multi-gold medal winning Olympian.'

Saudi Arabia was recently ranked as one of the top 20 most business-friendly countries in the world by the World Bank in its annual 'Ease of Doing Business Report'. The report ranked Saudi Arabia as the best place to do business in the entire Middle East and Arab World, ahead of Bahrain, the UAE and Kuwait.