From Pledge to Action – Arab Business Leaders Take Concrete Actions to Improve Education at the World Economic Forum’s Arab World Competitiveness Meeting

The Arab world business community committed it self today to take action to improve education in the region, as The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2002-2003 holds education as one of the most burning issues impeding competitiveness. Business leaders pledged today 20% of their corporate citizenship and/or philanthropy budgets to digital divide related projects by signing the CEO Charter for Digital Development. They also committed to between US$ 5,000 and US$ 50,000 each to the Jordan education project of the Global Digital Divide Initiative of the World Economic Forum.

Resulting from day-long deliberations at the World Economic Forum’s first Arab World Competitiveness Meeting at its headquarters in Geneva from 8 to 9 September, businesses took front and centre by directly addressing the elements of competitiveness as outlined in The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2002-2003. Over 250 of the key political and business leaders from the region as well as the heads of selected international corporations and organizations took part in the Meeting.

This commitment from business leaders from the Arab World and Central Europe was a result of a private gathering here on education chaired by Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Company International, Egypt in which 20 key stakeholders from business and government took part. "This business pledge is a demonstration that the Arab world has a strong sense of civic duty and responsibility to the region’s youth. Our success is collective and our vision is long term," said Abu-Ghazaleh. "We cannot do this alone," he concluded.
This morning financial commitments came from: Ali Kolaghassi, Senior Adviser, Saudi Oger, Saudi Arabia; Amr Koura, Chief Executive Officer, Al Karma Productions, Egypt; Fadi Ghandour, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aramex International, Jordan; George Zreikat, Chairman of the Board, Pinacotes Finance and Trade Group, Russian Federation; Iqbal Khan, Chief Executive Officer, Amanah Finance, HSBC Financial Services (Middle East), United Arab Emirates; Samer S. Khoury, Executive Vice-President, Operations, Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), Greece; Khalid Al Masri, Astra, Jordan; Khaldoon Tabaza, Chief Executive Officer, Ideavelopers, Egypt; Saad Abdul Latif, President, Middle East Region, Pepsi-Cola International, United Arab Emirates; Samer Salty, Chief Executive Officer, Zouk Ventures, United Kingdom; and Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Company International, Egypt

The Forum’s education project in Jordan, co-led by World Links, a non-profit organization and member of the Education Steering Committee of the Global Digital Divide Initiative, received as a starting step US$ 110,000 towards implementation of the project. The project is designed to address the need for improved education and technology skills training in the Kingdom of Jordan. It will involve at least 100 public schools and will provide access to information and communication technologies, teacher training and local technical support.
"From pledge to action, business leaders made financial commitments to demonstrate that Arab world businesses are making social investments to raise IT literacy standards and educate the region’s youth," said José Marيa Figueres, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. "These financial commitments are more than philanthropy. They demonstrate the critical role of business in social and economic growth," he added.

The CEO Charter for Digital Development is designed to organize a global community of CEOs that believe in the power of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) to address social and economic development and to link these CEOs with projects on the ground. This morning, six companies from the Middle East join the founding participants of the CEO Charter.

They include Amr Koura, Chief Executive Officer, Al Karma Productions, Egypt; Fadi Ghandour, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aramex International, Jordan; George Zreikat, Chairman of the Board, Pinacotes Finance and Trade Group, Russian Federation; Jawad Abbassi, President, Arab Advisors Group, Jordan; Khaldoon Tabaza, Chief Executive Officer, Ideavelopers, Egypt; and Saad Abdul-Latif, President, Middle East Region, Pepsi-Cola International, United Arab Emirates.

They join the founding group of CEO signers from the following companies (listed in alphabetical order): Equitable Cardnetwork (Philippines), Hewlett-Packard (USA), Masreya (Egypt), Microsoft (USA), MIH Group (South Africa), Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Company International (Egypt), Telefonica (Spain) and Vivendi Universal (France).
"World Links is thrilled to be associated with this exciting effort to bridge the digital divide in Jordan. We pledge to do all we can to improve educational outcomes and economic opportunities for teachers and youth in Jordan through the use of technology and the Internet, and hope we will make a lasting contribution," said Sam Carlson, Executive Director, World Links. "We are extremely grateful to all the companies associated with the World Economic Forum which have placed their trust in us," he concluded.