Economists in the Kingdom in general and the Mideast region in particular are optimistic that the three-day International Competitiveness Forum starting here on Sunday will come up with meaningful solutions to the global economic meltdown. Over 100 speakers are expected to participate in the forum. They include several heads of state, ministers and presidents and CEOs of large companies as well as leading intellectuals from the world over. Most prominent among them are Carlos Ghosn, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of Nissan, Mary Robinson, former Irish president, Jean Chretien, former prime minister of Canada, Michael Porter, professor at Harvard Business School, Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, and Mahathir Muhammad, former prime minister of Malaysia. The participants will discuss crucial themes on the local and international economy. On the sidelines of the forum, results of the initiatives launched in the preceding event will be announced. These include the King Khalid Prize for Responsible Competitiveness and the Michael Porter Prize for Creativity Strategy. Apart from this, the list of the top 100 fastest developing Saudi companies will also be unveiled. On the first day of the forum in the “Responsible competitiveness” session, the participants will discuss the concept of competitiveness and the role of responsible investments in improving the competitiveness of countries. There will be four speakers including Muhammad Omran, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Telecom Company (STC). This will be followed by a session on “Energy and its horizons” to discuss the impact of the financial crisis on energy affairs. There will be five speakers including Nick Butler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cambridge Center for Energy Studies and Paulo Scaroni, Executive President of Eni SpA. The session on “Food security” will discuss supporting competitiveness of countries in the long run and the current food crisis. There will be four speakers including Abdullah Zainal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Peter Brabek-Letmathe, Executive President of Nestle Company. The session will be followed by “Culture and competitiveness of nations,” which will have four speakers including Saeb Egens, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lonworld Investments Group and Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. On the second day, the first session under the title “Toward a more competitive public sector” will discuss the effects of bureaucracy on competitiveness. There will be four speakers including Heizo Takenaka, a former Japanese minister and Sri Aziz Yousuf, Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry. This will be followed by a session on “Infrastructure as an economic catalyst”. The four speakers of the session will include Ralph Peterson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CH2M HILL and Bruno Lavon, Executive President of Lafarge Company. There will be five speakers in the “Competitiveness and environment” session and participants will discuss the effects of climate change on companies and countries. The session on “The next generation of creativity and innovation” will discuss the capability of nascent economies to accommodate creativity and innovation. There will be four speakers. The final session on the second day titled “Global risks in 2009” will discuss the dangers of collapse that can face the global economy in the current year and the impact of the financial crisis. On the last day of the forum, the first session titled “The 21st century leader” will have four speakers. There will be five speakers in the session titled “Sports – competitiveness at its peak” to discuss how to benefit from sports in increasing prosperity. The session titled “Towards a different way of thinking” will discuss how to support mentalities and ways of thinking for economic advancement. The session on “Future cities” will discuss the role of contracting and real estate companies in building a state capable of competing. The final session of the forum will be held under the title “The financial crisis – its depth and period and solving it.” It will have four speakers including Stefan G. Balioca, Managing Director of Pan Capital Limited and Muhammad Al-Jasser, Deputy Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.
