From May 15 to 17 the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East took place on the hot and humid shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan. Some 1,400 participants from across the globe, including some 1,000 private sector representatives, 14 heads of state and dozens of ministers, traveled to the earth’s lowest point to discuss the socio-economic issues facing the region.
As is so often the case with mega-gatherings such as the WEF, the most interesting words and opinions were not always expressed in the main conferences; many were found in the topic specific debates taking place on the meeting’s sidelines.
Participants and press happily met over coffee, lunch and dinner. And eat well they did as, according to one cook at the King Hussein Conference Center, the food bill for the first day amounted to some $90,000. Fortunately, the WEF has its sponsors.
There was also some controversy before the meeting even started. A small group of demonstrators in Amman protested over the attendance of an Israeli delegation, including Israeli President Shimon Peres, which was arguably the reason there were no Syrian or Iranian representatives.
In his opening speech, Jordan’s King Abdullah II referred at length to the Nakba and the Arab Peace Initiative (API). According to him, the Nakba was not just a catastrophe for the Palestinians, but for the entire region and the world.
“As we feel compassion for all who have suffered, let us also commit to joining the solution as well,” he said. That solution, said Abdullah, is the API.
“We have committed,” he said. “So now must Israel. The API has offered Israel a place in the neighborhood and more: acceptance by 57 nations.”
Abdullah also said that there can be no economic cooperation with Israel without a political solution.
Away from politics, he identified the Arab youth as a “vital dynamic” of this year’s forum.
“The 21st century has brought the Middle East its largest youth population in history,” said Abdullah. “In only a few years we will be looking to these 200 million young men and women for our region’s strategies, partnerships and solutions.”
From the plethora of topics discussed and debated at the Dead Sea, Executive highlights three in the following pages that in the future will play an ever more important role, particularly in the context of the region’s fast growing and ever younger population. These are the call for social housing; the state of the media; and the need for proper education.
