Address by President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak to the Inaugural Session of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East,
Ladies and gentlemen, It pleases me to welcome you all in Sharm El-Sheikh, the city of peace. I meet with you in Sinai on the land of Egypt, with all the fragrance of history and religions it bears and the tales of human conflict and years of war and peace it tells. Sinai, in both ancient and modern history, had been a battle ground for bloody wars and in the same time a cross-over for human communication and Heavenly Messages. From where I talking now, there lie at a close distance Mount Moses, the Sacred Valley, Saint Catherine's Monastery, the path of Jesus Christ, Joseph the Carpenter and the Virgin Mary and around the expanse of this land there echo the verses of the Old and New Testament and the Quran. The history of Sinai, since Ramsis and Akhenaton, epitomizes some of the contradictions of human nature, ranging from man's greatness and weakness, his genius and breakdowns. Its mountains and sands tell how humanity can rise as lofty as to make civilization and how it can decline to levels of violence and bloodshed. This history is a part of the progress of the Middle East and humanity as a whole, wherefrom we derive lessons and examples so as to probe into the conditions of this region and the world around us and to foresee a better future for our peoples and a more peaceful, secure, just and stable world. Participants in this forum we are opening today are an choice of heads of state, leaders, politicians and economists, investors, thinkers and scientists, media staff, artists and creative writers. We all owe gratitude to dear friend Professor Schwab and we express our appreciation to him for the sustained success scored by the Davos Forum and congratulate him on the increasing international recognition of the influential role of this important forum. Ladies and gentlemen, Here again comes the Davos Forum to Sharm El-Sheikh as the Middle East region and the world stand at a crossroad, amidst difficult regional and international conditions and several challenges. The world is facing an acute economic crisis that started with the collapse of the US sub-prime (mortgage market) crisis followed by the regression of projected growth rates of global economy. The world is surged with by rough inflationary waves causing unprecedented hikes I prices of energy, basic food commodities and raw materials and imposing the larger portion of its consequences and implications on poor countries and on the poor population within the same country. This forum convenes at a time these issues have become a core topic for both developed and developing counties alike as well as an engrossing preoccupation for international organizations and institutions, politicians, academics, thinkers, economists and people interested in global affairs. The current global crisis poses many problematic issues that intertwine in their economic and social dimensions and its relationship with issues of climate change and energy and water supplies; in their with food security, economic growth rates and standards of living in both developed and developing counties. Providing food security for the poor poses a basic challenge as well as a major responsibility towards poor and limited income brackets, including the poor in the rich developed countries. This goal must by no means subject of speculations leading to rises in food prices or orientation to use human food as engine fuel. Is it sensible that some proceed with producing bio-fuel under government subsidy to producers? Is it sensible or acceptable to use farm crops in manufacturing ethanol, thus exacerbating the rising food price crisis? The international community needs to re-estimate the real cost of bio-fuel production, with its social and environmental reflections and its implication for the food security of humans. There is pressing need for an urgent international dialogue, where exporters and importers of energy and food from both developed and developing counties can meet. We need a dialogue that can find solutions to ensure that world population needs of food, while securing in the same time energy supplies for the global economy; a dialogue that generates solutions to be agreed on and complied with by all of us. We are facing tough challenges and we have to address them as a common collective responsibility. We face deleterious effects of climate change and the related prevailing norms of production and consumption and the phenomena of draught, desertification and greenhouse effect it causes. We also face a vicious circle imposed by the relationship between food and energy supplies, thus making each simultaneously both a cause and effect of the current crisis of global economy, both together helping exacerbate, aggravate and even threaten to turn it into an endemic crisis, unless we hasten to contain it. I will take the invitation to a dialogue on this prominent international affair the upcoming meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization next month in Rome. I look forward for this meeting to put both developed and developing counties on the right track to contain the current crisis. Ladies and gentlemen, Two years ago this forum was held here in Sharm El-Sheikh under the slogan" A Promise for a New Generation". That was a promise that epitomized the aspirations of the peoples of the Middle East for a better future that brings peace and prosperity to all and for a favourable international climate in a more equitable world that reinforces their progress and ambitions. Where do we stand from that promise? Have the Middle East and the world become in a better position that brings closer to the realization of that promise? Two years ago, in this room I called for addressing the steady increase in energy prices; for rectifying distortions in current global economy and structural imbalances in public budgets of some major economic powers as well as similar imbalances in exchange rates. I called for a review of agricultural commodity subsidy policies, cautioning against protectionist orientations by certain developed and developing counties and their implications for global trade and the Doha Round negotiations. Where do we stand now from all this? The Middle East is yearning for peace, stability and development. It is passing through an important stage along the road to political, economic and social reform. It does possess such natural, strategic and human resources that qualify it for progress and prosperity. Has the promise of peace come true? Where does the stability of this sensitive region stand from the incidents taking place in Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur and Somalia? How about the bad omens of destabilization in the Gulf area? The Middle East and the world have witnessed many developments since our last meeting, have we grown more able to address our common challenges? Have risks of terror and mass destruction weapons receded? How about international cooperation in achieving the Millennium Development Goals? How about issues of poverty reduction, social justice and human rights? How about environmental, health, education, women's and children's issue? How about our moves to combat money-laundering, organized crime and human trafficking? Any objective assessment of international and regional developments over the past two years must admit that aspirations by the Middle East for peace have not been realized and that the international climate has not been supportive of these legitimate aspirations to the aspired-for and due level. Ladies and gentlemen, The World Economic Forum this year convenes under the slogan" Learning from the Future, in a bid to seriously foresee its landmarks, including variables and probabilities that are hard to conjecture with certainty and accuracy. I presume that learning from the future starts with learning lessons from the present and the past. Our world has witnessed massive transformations and an unprecedented breakthrough in science, knowledge and information and communication technology. Globalization and interdependence have become characteristic of our age. Our world has turned into a small cosmic village. Century-old theories have regressed and different one emerged. There is now talk about inter-civilization clash and the end of history and a later talk about the post-modernity and post-ideology worlds. The 21st Century has overstepped the polarization in the past century between Socialism and Capitalism and now there is an international consensus aligned to economic freedom and market economy that calls for liberalizing trade and seeks to respond to the new realities of globalization. What happened and what is going on? The world now stands at a crossroad, where developing nations face a critical situation and a tough comparison between the benefits they gain and the problems and challenges they encounter from globalization. To day there comes the current global crisis to support the stances of advocates to reinstating protectionist measures and state hegemony vis-à-vis of those convinced of economy and trade liberalization. Here comes this crisis to add fresh factors for destabilization and to give new excuses for reactionary, Salafist, extremist and terrorists and overbidders and profiteers over the suffering of poor and lower-income brackets. The international community bears responsibility for setting right the current situation and for containing the implication of the current crisis for the developing counties and their peoples. There is need to reconsider and rethink, in an objective and creative way, the shape of the world to which we look forward in future. We look forward to a world, where the future looms as a source of hope, optimism and inspiration rather than concern and anticipation. Ahead of us, there lie lessons of remote and near history, realities of our today's world, several scenarios presented for the future and we have to choose. Ladies and gentlemen, Egypt has already made her own choices with unhesitating conviction and with a vision that is being resolutely and confidently put into practice. Our choice has been, and will remain, to continue reform on all tracks and pursuit of Middle East peace, security and stability. We are completing the pillars of our democracy; enhancing pluralism and energizing our political life. In so doing, we are applying home-grown reforms that are sensitive to our society's conditions and idiosyncrasies. In this connection, we are cautious of several; experiments that tried to bounce to the future by leaps and bounds but failed rebound as well as of others impose democracy from abroad under a variety of pretexts; all ending up in devastation, infighting, loss of lives and bloodletting. Over the four past years, economic reform steps have accelerated, with daring decision being taken to reform the fiscal ( tax and customs) system and banking sector, to promote the investment-attracting climate and liberate and open up our economy to the world. On the road to reform, we have made many achievements. Our economy has achieved a growth rate of more than 7 per cent for the third year in a row; foreign direct investments jumped from about US Dollar 3 billion four years ago to more than US Dollar 11 billion a year, accounting for more than 8.5 per cent of gross domestic product. Unemployment rate dropped from 11.5 per cent to 8.8 per cent and budget from 9.5 per cent to 6.9 per cent, planned to reduced to 3 per cent by 2011. We could have never contained the implications of the current international crisis, without having undergoing increasing budget deficit or hyper inflation had it not been for the reform steps achieved. Nor could we alleviate its impact on the lower-income brackets, had it not been for the parallel steps taken to realize social reform and expand the base of social justice. We are irreversibly forging our way towards reform; enhancing cooperation with our international partners, seeking for real partnership based on trade and investment; stretching out our hands for friendship with all and insisting on equality and mutual respect as bases for our international relations. That was our choice in handling domestic Egyptian issues including challenges, aspirations and ambitions involved. How about Egypt's choices vis-à-vis the issues of our part of the world? Egypt's choice was peace. We have upheld the banner of and opened the road to peace. We have pursued the peace process with its successes and failures, progress and deadlock. We have never hesitated to support it nor spared any effort to salvage it from deadlocks and setbacks. In sustaining this effort, we are unshakably convinced that it is just peace that can bring about Middle East security and stability and that the Palestinian cause is the core and crux of conflict in the region as well as the right approach to address the remaining crisis and hot beds of tension. I have repeatedly stressed that the escalation of terror is not essentially triggered by the gap between the world rich and poor, as might think, nor by absence of democracy as some others do, but rather by causes that have been long waiting for just solution, foremost of which come the Palestinian cause. These causes agitate sentiments of despair, frustration and rage; give excuses for violence and fuel extremism and terrorism. They indeed provide pretexts for those who wage wars by proxy and for those who attempt to export their beliefs and ideologies and to impose their influence and hegemony over this region. Just and comprehensive peace is the clue to Middle East satiability and the right path to encircle extremist and terrorist forces. Six years ago, the Arab world proposed the Arab Peace Initiative and welcomed President Bush's two- state peace vision as well as the current negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides and President Bush's promise to reach a peace accord by the end of his term of office. I do look forward to the day this promise comes true. The call for entrenching the value of freedom, justice and human integrity is indivisible and we look forward to the people of Palestine being covered by such call; thus putting an end to their 60-year- ordeal of displacement and suffering. Egypt is exerting its utmost to bring about calm in Gaza, as means to alleviate suffering of its population and create a favourable climate for the success of the negotiation process and the achievement of a peace agreement that puts an end to occupation and establish the independent Palestinian state. Meeting of Palestinian faction in Cairo this month have resulted in a broad consensus on calm proposals and requirements. I look forward to a similar response on the part of Israel and also look forward to the resumption, in good faith and without delay, by Israel of negotiations with the Palestinian side on the final status negotiations. Egypt will pursue her efforts in support of peace and the Palestinian cause, being our own cause, interests, borders and national security. While appreciating the efforts by the International Quartet to mobilize financial and economic support for the Palestinian Authority's institutions, we call for these efforts to be coupled with necessary and due political support for the peace negotiations. We all have to recognize that Abu-Mazen needs a just and honourable peace agreement that can realize his people's aspirations and can gain their blessing and backing. Mistaken is he who can imagine that anyone can provide coverage for an agreement that cannot respond to the hopes and aspiration of the Palestinian people.
Dear friends, The Middle East peace and prosperity is an integral part of world peace and prosperity. When talking about the future, we have bear in mind that time is running out and we are racing with time, for the future starts right from this moment. Yes, indeed we are facing common challenges, but we can work hand in hand to overstep and overcome them. There may be many scenarios predicted for the future of this region and the world, but what really holds us together is the outlook for a better future that champions common value of humanity; brings about peace, stability and prosperity for all; takes man to the maximum limits of his greatness, genius and potential and keeps him away from the perils of his frailty, delinquency and breakdowns. Once again I welcome you and wish you and this forum useful discussions Tank you. May the Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah be upon you?
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