Mubarak addresses World Economic Forum
Egypt-Regional, Politics, 5/20/2006

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak said today peace and progress are forever interconnected and the peace and progress of the Middle East are an inseparable part of that of the world at large.

Addressing the inaugural session of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, being held in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, the President said that the Middle East, this strategic part of the world, yearns for peace, stability and development.

Our region, he said, is passing through a very important phase on its road to attain democracy and economic and social reform and looks forward with confidence and hope towards building a better future for its people and nations.

The President welcomed world leaders, politicians, businessmen and intellectuals who are gathered in this Egyptian Red Sea resort to attend the occasion and voiced appreciation of all the efforts exerted by Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and Founder of the WEF, to help Egypt host the event.

Today's WEF talks come at a most significant stage in the history of the Middle East that over these two years witnessed numerous political and economic developments and achievements and saw the emergence of many hopes and chances and many difficulties and challenges, Mubarak said.

He said that holding the Sharm-hosted talks under the title "The promise of a new generation" was a matter of special indication for it sums up the aspirations and hopes of the people of the Middle East for a future that brings about peace and prosperity for them and for the world as a whole.

He said that he expects that the talks, to be held in this city over the next two days, would assert the inter-link between the peace and security of the Middle East and that of the Euro-Mediterranean and the Euro-Atlantic and address the impact of this connection on global stability and economic growth.

President Mubarak in his speech at the inaugural session of the WEF in Sharm al-Sheikh noted that the world was making its first steps in the new millennium with a new way of thinking and successive developments in the world of science and knowledge.

The phenomenon of globalization is opening up new horizons of hope for a better future at a time when it poses several challenges and dangers, added the President.

Mubarak explained that the gains of globalization included easy access to information thanks to the information technology revolution while threats were reflected in a deepening gap between the rich and the poor of the world.

The burden of facing such a state of affairs is shouldered by both the developed and developing countries alike, with a view to attaining a globalisation invested with a humanitarian nature, said the President.

All are facing the challenge of an increase in energy prices in a way that jeopardizes international economic performance at large, added the President.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in his inaugural speech at the WEF, noted that Egypt was extending its hand for everybody to work together in the face of challenges posed by globalization.

These concerted efforts are required to create a better world; a more peaceful and stable one, said President Mubarak.

He explained that the hoped-for world should be allowing pluralism, adhering to international legitimacy and steering away from unilateral policies.

The hoped-for world, added Mubarak, should be able to create a more viable system of social security and work earnestly for a just and comprehensive settlement of all pending disputes and issues.

That world, added the President, should stand up to terrorism and its evils, work to eradicate racial discrimination and extremism and confront bigotry and clash of civilizations.

President Mubarak noted also that everybody should seek to create a world that could deal effectively with the issue of weapons of mass destruction, atop of which come nuclear weapons, away from politicizing the issue.

The Middle East region is part and parcel of the world at large, said Mubarak, noting that the region possessed huge human resources that could build up an expanding industrial base and a large market for trade and investments.

The region has huge oil and natural gas reserves, said Mubarak, adding that the region with its massive natural wealth was contributing to the growth of international economy and stability.

President Mubarak, in his inaugural speech at the World Economic Forum, noted that the winds of change have already blown on the region.

These winds are blowing from inside the region carrying with them the hopes and aspirations of its peoples, added the President.

The region has attained over the past few years marked achievements down the track of reform, said the President.

This reform process is not a goal in itself, but rather a means of improving the living conditions of the ordinary citizen.

This reform should keep an eye on helping the poor families and sustaining women and should side with the low-income brackets in the society.

President Mubarak indicated that some parties thought that proposing the issue of reform in the region would be able to impose a solution to the Palestinian question by way of settling the problem outside international legitimacy and the peace process terms of reference.

President Mubarak said he had warned time and again against such a state of affairs.
Such an analysis of the regional situation, said Mubarak, does not have a clear vision of the region's conditions and its problems.

The Palestinian question and Arab-Israeli peace will remain the central issue governing the region's stability and security, said Mubarak, noting that reaching a just settlement to the issue would eventually have positive effects on regional stability and security.

The international community, asserted the President, should undertake its responsibility for dealing with the Middle East issue.

President Mubarak urged the international Quartet and other regional and international parties concerned to join hands in this respect.

President Hosni Mubarak further added that Egypt has initiated the peace process in the Middle East and exerted all possible efforts to pilot it to safety away from all logjams and hindrances.

Egypt, said Mubarak, still has hope about the future of peace in the Middle East. Egypt, he added, will maintain its efforts with the
Palestinian and Israeli sides to go back to the negotiating table and will keep up its endeavours to push up the peace process on all tracks in the hope of reaching a just and durable peace in the region.

Egypt, said Mubarak, is seeking to have a Middle East peace that closes the Arab-Israeli file for good and establishes an equitable regional security order

President Mubarak said that Egypt, with its geographical location as the core of the Middle East, is shouldering its regional responsibility towards the challenges and dangers engulfing the region.

Egypt, said Mubarak, has started the reform process a long time ago. The political arena in Egypt is now rich with successive and unprecedented developments.

The road is still long to realize more reforms that should be achieved over the coming six years, said President Mubarak.

Problems are still ahead of us, said Mubarak, expressing his full confidence over consummating the reform process in a successful way.

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