Arab Business Council

The Arab Business Council (ABC) is composed of the leading representatives of the Arab private sector who are committed to enhancing economic competitiveness in the Arab world.

The ABC

The ABC aims to facilitate cooperation among the leading business institutions and corporate leaders in the Arab world in order to help equip their societies to compete in the global economy and to contribute to the development of an equitable society. The ABC is acknowledged as a credible and legitimate voice of the Arab business community within the international community.

The Arab Business Council Annual Meeting 2007

The ABC Annual Meeting 2006 took place in Abu Dhabi.
Read the Report.
Participants focused on three core priorities:
· The role of business in helping the Arab region to integrate successfully into the global economy, and leveraging this integration to strengthen the economic links between Arab states
· Creating a policy environment that will enable and encourage competitive economic performance, greater social and gender equity, and stronger flows of domestic, intra-regional and foreign investment within, and into, the Arab region
· Building the intellectual capital – through better schooling, commercial, technical and scientific education and training, and research and development – that is needed to strengthen and sustain competitiveness  More>>

Executive Committee 2006 - 2008 elections
The Executive Committee officially assumes its two-year term July 3, 2006, and includes:
Mr. Shafik Gabr, Egypt (Chairman)
Mr. Hassan Abdalla, Egypt
Mrs Shahira M. Zeid, Egypt
Mr. Mazen Darwazeh, Jordan
Mr. Bassim Jaï Hokimi, Morocco
Mr. Mohammed Ali Mabrouk, Tunisia
Mr. Khaled Ben Zayed Al Naheyan, United Arab Emirates
Mr. Khalid Abdulla-Janahi, Bahrain
Mr. Abdalla Al Dabbagh, Saudi Arabia
Mr. Fahed Al Rashed, Kuwait

ABC meetings
2007
ABC Meetings and Activities:

• ABC Investment Task Force Meeting in Davos, January 2007(tbd)
• National Competitiveness Councils' Workshop, February/March 2007
• US Meeting in Washington D.C., late March 2007 (tbd)
• Contribution to the Arab World Competitiveness Report and Roundtable in Doha, April 2007

2006
ABC Participation in International Meetings:

• OECD-BMENA Investment Ministerial Meeting in Jordan, February 2006
• World Economic Forum on the Middle East, Sharm El Sheikh, May 2006
• Education Ministerial Meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, May 2006
• Finance Ministerial Meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, May 2006
• World Economic Forum in Turkey, Istanbul, 23-24 November 2006

ABC Meetings and Activities:

• Fiscal and Education Policy Reform Recommendations - Working Paper, October 2006
• US - Middle East Free Trade Agreements study, November 2006
• ABC Annual Meeting, Abu Dhabi, 2-3 December 2006

ABC activities
  Enhancing competitiveness
The ABC supported the World Economic Forum’s Arab World Competitiveness Report 2005 - the first of its kind which assesses the conditions, structures and policies that are integral to the region's competitiveness in the global economy - and is assisting the production of the 2007 edition which will be released in Doha in April 2007.

The ABC is also an incubator for National Competitiveness Councils which help to benchmark countries’ major indicators and promote competitiveness. To date, competitiveness councils have been established in Egypt and Bahrain and Kuwait.

  Business-government partnerships
The ABC has conducted outreach programmes to government and business, both regionally and globally.

National coordinators have been appointed to ministerial level in government in Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and the UAE to see the reform agenda driven forward in government. Nominations of former ABC members include: Amr Dabbagh, as Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; Rachid Mohammed Rachid, as Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry of Egypt; Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, as Minister of Economy and Planning of the UAE; Sharif Ali Zu’bi, as Minister of Industry and Trade of Jordan; and Mohammed Mansour as Minister of Transport of Egypt.

  Tackling economic reform in the Arab world
The ABC firmly believes that much-needed reforms must come from within Arab societies and must respond to the aspirations of the Arab people. At the Forum’s Annual Meeting 2004, the ABC ratified its Blueprint for Economic Reforms across the Arab world as one of the first steps to an Arab renaissance. The reforms focus on economic policy reform and liberalization, human resources development and governance.

  Regional integration
The ABC is developing a networking platform to allow business leaders from across the Arab world to interact through working meetings.

The ABC has been invited to participate in several G8-MENA meetings and looks to provide input on education and finance.

  Global integration
The ABC carries the voice of the Arab private sector to the global level through business and political leaders:
- in the USA
- in the countries of the European Union
- in Asia, where exchanges with the business community will increase
- with the G-8, within the framework of the Forum for the Future Business Dialogue. The ABC, OECD and other private sector bodies took steps to create the ABC/ G8 Investment Task Force.

A core group of CEOs from the BMENA and G8 countries met during the World Economic Forum in Jordan 2005 and launched the Investment Task Force. In 2006 ABC participated in an OECD-BMENA Investment Ministerial Meeting.

  Promoting best practice standards
This is a crucial part of the ABC agenda and we encourage all ABC members to sign the Forum's PACI Principles for Countering Bribery. ABC members have endorsed four covenants to promote best practice standards:

• Business covenant on corporate governance
• Business declaration on corporate social responsibility
• Business covenant on the elimination of corruption and bribery
• Business declaration on accounting and audit practices

Contact Us
For further information please write to abc@weforum.org