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The three-day 7th annual Jeddah Economic Forum, which kicks off at the Hilton Hotel today with an inaugural address by Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, will feature some of the world's heads of state, international decision makers, economists, speakers, delegates and guests. Nine plenary and four selective sessions will mark the opening day from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
The formal opening ceremony by Prince Abdul Majeed will include remarks by Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Abdullah Al-Muallimi and JEF Chairman Amr Enany, and recognition of dignitaries and sponsors.
This year's forum explores the theme "Seeding potentials for economic growth: Honoring identity and celebrating common grounds."
Delegates will acknowledge the wide variety of national cultures and address the need to identify common grounds as building blocks for sustainable economic growth.
With an ambitious vision to set the standards for national, regional and international economic events aimed at job creation, economic development and prosperity by addressing key economic challenges and opportunities, the JEF aspires to design a blueprint for the economic future for the Kingdom and the region.
Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Madani is the speaker and Minister of State Abdullah Zainal Alireza the moderator of the opening plenary session entitled "Saudi Arabia — Vision 2020."
The other plenary sessions of the day are on "Saudi Arabia in the global village," "Recognizing diversity in the globalized world," "Greenfields for the future — the King Abdullah Economic City," "Public private partnerships: Financing infrastructure," "The Gulf economy in a global context" and "Political adversity and the art of diplomacy."
There will be four selective sessions in the post-lunch period on "The role of government — leader, follower or arbitrator," "UN Arab human development report: Facing reality and acting constructively," "Entrepreneurship in education and the workplace" and "The Middle East in the American media."
Over the three days, there will be 35 plenary and selective sessions to be addressed by 91 speakers, 38 of them Saudi and the rest from the United States, the UK, Russia, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Brazil, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, Yemen, Ghana, Congo-Brazzaville, Kuwait, Jordan and the UAE.
Speakers include Irish President Mary McAleese, Gambia President Alhaji Yahya Jammeh, former Ghana President Jerry Rawlings, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, former US Vice President Al Gore, Congo-Brazzaville Forestry and Environment Minister Henri Djombo, Cherie Booth, lawyer and the Queen's Counsel and wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Forbes Inc. CEO and Forbes Magazine Editor in Chief Steve Forbes, Chevron Corporation Vice Chairman Peter Robertson, former Jordan Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Salam Majali, Mohamed Al-Abbar, director general of the Dubai government's department of economic development and chairman of Emaar Properties, Bahia Hariri, member of the Lebanese Parliament and sister of the late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Andre Azoulay, counselor to King Mohammed VI of Morocco, former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and UN Population Fund Executive Director Thoraya Obaid.
This year's conference calls for the honor and recognition of culture, identity and diversity as the building blocks for a world of "common grounds" rather than a global economy of "one size fits all." The conference will further seek to underscore stories of success and actionable solutions both within and outside the context of Saudi Arabia.
"Whether locally, regionally or globally, we seek to highlight and celebrate achievements that are special and inspirational about the human quest for inclusion and participation in the building of one world: our world, our tomorrow," JEF Chairman Enany said.
Today, the JEF, which was conceived in 2000, and the Jeddah International Exhibition & Convention Center are units of the Jeddah Marketing Board, which was established in 1999 and is presently headed by businessman and former JCCI Chairman Ghassan Al-Sulaiman.
The JEF 2006 sponsors include Emaar Properties as lead sponsor; Saudi Arabian Airlines, Saudi Binladin Group, Al-Khayala (NAS), Al Hilal Group, National Commercial Bank and Xenel as diamond sponsors; Gulf One Investment Bank, Enany Group, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Citigroup, Aal Taher Group, EFG-Hermes, Budget Car Rental and the Prince Sultan Foundation (Medunet) as gold sponsors; and Riyad Bank, Credit Suisse, Saudi Electricity Company, Savola Group, General Motors, Khaled Juffali and Sumitomo Chemical Asia as silver sponsors. Media sponsors include Saudi Research and Publishing Company, Al-Madina newspaper, Sky News and Al Arabiya.
The forum is organized by the Jeddah Marketing Board, which operates under the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
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