CNBC Arabiya to sponsor Jeddah Economic Forum

The Jeddah Economic Forum is one of the region's most prestigious high profile economic events and the largest-scale economic forum in the Middle East.

"CNBC Arabiya has participated in every major business event in the region since we launched the channel in late July of this year," said CNBC Arabiya Chairman and CEO Zafar Siddiqi. "The Jeddah Economic Forum is a pivotal yearly economic event for the Middle East, bringing together the region's corporate, government and political leaders and attracting some of the world's most influential men and women who have been at the epicentres of economic decision-making and political power. We seized the opportunity to sponsor this important gathering and our correspondents will be on the floor to provide full coverage of keynote speeches and panel discussions and debate, which will certainly inform corporate and economic thinking for the coming year."

Since its first broadcast less than 5 months ago CNBC Arabiya has captured the attention of Middle East audiences for its thorough reporting of the region's business news with its innovative programming. It is the first channel to cover regional stock market trading (in the daily late afternoon Kalam El Souk) and corporate news (in the daily early evening Jalsat Al Amal) and is the first channel to cover business news from Europe and America from an Arab perspective (in the nightly prime-time Europa Al Layla and Amreeka Al Layla). CNBC Arabiya has bureaus in Egypt, Lebanon, London and Bahrain.

Amr A. Dabbagh, Chairman of the Jeddah Marketing Board, which is organizing the event, said, "As the leading business news channel in the region, CNBC Arabiya is the ideal partner for the Jeddah Economic Forum. The channel is the first credible world-class business news broadcaster in the region and I have no doubt that the 2004 Forum will be further enriched by the participation of CNBC Arabiya."

Jeddah Economic Forum 2004 will host an impressive gathering of international political and business leaders discussing major issues affecting Saudi Arabia, the region and the world under the theme of 'Achieving Accelerated Growth'. Keynote speakers will include Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayypp Erdodan, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, recently retired Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, who is credited with building Malaysia into a major Southeast Asian economic power and WTO Director General Supahai Panitchpakdi.

Keynote speakers and participants at previous Jeddah Economic Forums have included former U.S. Presidents George Bush and William Jefferson Clinton, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, former French President Valery Giscard D'Estaing, former British Prime Minister John Major, Crown Prince of Bahrain HH Sheikh Salman bin Hamad, Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Al-Ragheb, former Russian Prime Minister and President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Yevgeny Primakov, International Saudi business leader HRH Waleed Bin Talal, and Tijari.Com CEO Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, among many others.