The World Economic Forum to hold the Arab Business Council Annual Meeting in Bahrain on 9-10 November

The ABC is composed of 80 top Arab business leaders who are committed to the mission of 'enhancing competitiveness in the Arab world'. In its third year of existence the Council has become firmly established as an effective representative of the Arab business community.

The ABC Annual Meeting is convening an exclusive group of Arab leaders from government, business and civil society to work together with eminent scholars and experts. Over the two-day meeting, the ABC will formulate and deliver the message of the Arab private sector to the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the G-8/BMENA Forum of the Future taking place the following day on the priorities that the region is facing today, namely governance, youth and education, and trade. The discussions will be supported by the results of an exclusive, region-wide public opinion survey conducted by Zogby International.

The message of the ABC on governance will include, for the first time in such a public meeting, a set of recommendations on how to approach the nature, role and development of political Islam in the context of democratic institutions. It will also address specific measures that the business community believes can be implemented in the immediate term to realize tangible improvements in transparency and accountability.

In addition, the ABC Annual Meeting will serve as forum for its members to formulate an agenda of action for the coming 12 months in pursuit of their mission of enhancing competitiveness in the Arab World. ABC members will engage Arab governments and civil society in substantive discussions of private sector-led initiatives in the following areas:

Youth and Education - Today over 60% of the Arab population are below the age of 25 challenged by the massive influx of information and ideas through mass media coupled by an east-west culture divide which leaves them 'caught between two worlds' - the real conditions they live in are in many cases far from what they see, hear and grow to expect. The ABC meeting will bring together youth, educators, religious leaders, government officials and businessmen to try to gain fresh insights into the largely unstudied problem of youth and adolescence in the Arab world . The ABC members will commit to support best practices for education, training and personal development initiatives. Business will engage in partnerships with the educational community by placing and training a number of students in their respective companies.

Recommendations will be made to Arab governments to reform education systems to focus on innovation and development of leadership skills.

Governance - To adopt transparency and best practice standards in the management of their companies drawing upon the model adopted by the World Economic Forum's members in the 'Partnering Against Corruption Initiative' or the ABC 'Covenants on Best Practice Standards'; to urge Arab governments to implement budgetary transparency benchmarks and engage in the reform ofpublic institutions and the judiciary.

Media - To move forward with the launching of the Arab Media Initiative conceived in May 2005 to strengthen the Arab media industry as an independent agent of positive change in the region.

Competitiveness - To showcase the progress of the National Competitiveness Councils of Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait who will present five policy recommendations from their national competitiveness reports to ministers from their respective countries; to support the creation of National Competitiveness Councils in other Arab countries.

Trade - To discuss the preliminary results of a study commissioned by the Arab Business Council on the impact of a US-Arab Free Trade Agreement, providing a framework for the business community to work more effectively with governments to qualify and benefit from such an agreement, particularly in terms of intra-Arab trade and the positive results of the reforms that need to be implemented.

Led by H.H. Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force, participants will include: H.E. Abdallah Dardari, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of Syria; H.E. Mohammed Dahlan, Minister of Civil Affairs of the Palestinian Authority; H.E. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Jassim Al Thani, Minister of Economy and Commerce of Qatar; H.E. Rachid M. Rachid, Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry of Egypt; Iyad Allawi, Former Prime Minister of Iraq; M. Shafik Gabr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Artoc Group for Investment & Development, Egypt, and Chairman of the Arab Business Council; Khalid Abdulla-Janahi, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Shamil Bank of Bahrain, Switzerland, and Vice-Chairman of the Arab Business Council; Fadi Ghandour, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aramex International, Jordan, and Member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Business Council; Mohamed A. Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties PJSC, United Arab Emirates, and Member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Business Council; Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chief Executive Officer, Mashreqbank PSC, United Arab Emirates; Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Founder and Chairman, Cordoba Initiative, USA; Fouad Ajami, Director Middle East Studies, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Robert Z. Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of Trade and Investment, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Mark Pieth, Chairman, Working Group on Bribery, OECD, University of Basel, Switzerland; and James J. Zogby, Founder and President, The Arab American Institute (AAI), USA. Representatives from various governments of the region will also take part.