Former Malaysian leader Mahathir joins Leaders in Dubai

During his term in office, Mahathir turned Malaysia into a regional high-tech manufacturing, financial, and telecommunications hub through his economic policies based on corporate nationalism, known as the various Malaysia Plans. These policies remained in effect almost to the end of his tenure in office.

He is credited with spearheading the phenomenal growth of the Malaysian economy, now one of the largest and most powerful in South East Asia.

Growth between 1988 and 1997 averaged over 10 per cent and living standards rose twenty-fold. Poverty was almost eradicated while social indicators such as literacy levels and infant mortality rates are now on a par with developed countries.

Mahathir joins eight other business and political headline names, including Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, and former American President Bill Clinton (via video cast) in the debate on leadership best practices.

Speaking at the event are:


• Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the former Soviet Union and winner of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize

• Bill Clinton (via videocast), former President of the USA from 1993 - 2001

• Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in the USA and a director of the New York Stock Exchange

• Daniel Pink, the author of Free Agent Nation, the Washington Post bestseller, who will suggest six aptitudes crucial to the survival of white-collar workers

• Kenichi Ohmae, the former director of McKinsey Japan, who has earned global acclaim as 'Mr Strategy'

• Arie de Geus, who was at the helm of Royal Dutch Shell for 40 years and has been described as 'the global statesman' of business change

• Spencer Johnson, the author of the bestsellers Who Moved My Cheese and The One-Minute Manager

• Scott Bedbury, one of the world's leading brand architects, responsible for Nike's Just Do It campaign and the emergence of the Starbucks brand

Leaders in Dubai is expected to attract more than 2,500 business leaders from across Arabia and will be held at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, from November 28 to 29, 2005.