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Big business explores Middle East
openings
By Emad Mekay
WASHINGTON - An "extraordinary" meeting called
by a leading global business group to discuss the
business future of the Middle East has met with mixed
reactions, with some seeing the initiative as an attempt
to divide the spoils of war and usurp the role of the
United Nations.
The Geneva-based World Economic
Forum (WEF), known for its high-profile annual meetings
in the alpine resort of Davos in Switzerland that
attracts the world's corporate and political luminaries,
says that it will convene the meeting in Amman, the
capital of Jordan, under the theme "visions for a shared
future".
The forum said in a statement that it
wants to bring the "spirit of Davos" to the Middle East,
and complimented King Abdullah of Jordan for agreeing to
play host to the June 21-23 gathering. One of the goals
of assembling 1,900 political and business leaders is to
replace a "period of conflict with the spirit of
cooperation", continued the statement.
But
anti-corporate globalization activists have been quick
to label the meeting as an attempt to further open doors
for Western corporations in the oil-rich region, at a
time when the Middle East is going through one of its
most unstable periods in recent history.
"They
want to come here to talk about doing business when the
blood of Iraqi civilians hasn't yet dried and the people
in the region are very angry," said Wael Khalil of the
newly-formed The Anti-Globalization Egyptian Group,
whose Arabic acronym means burning fire. "This will play
into our hands and not into their [WEF's] hands. They
are creating yet another new point of mobilization and
resistance. Their efforts won't come to pass," he said.
The US-led reconstruction of Iraq, where to date
nine US firms have received major contracts for
rebuilding the occupied nation, has fueled the anger of
many people in the region and beyond, cementing their
belief that the Washington-led military attack was in
part motivated by economic interests. Many non-US
companies are now maneuvering for one of many
sub-contracts to be awarded in Iraq.
Forum
officials did not return Inter Press Service phone calls
but said in their statement that the meetings would be
devoted to discussing trans-Atlantic relations, the
future of the Middle East, global economic performance
and the "effort to build a world more secure for all
citizens".
Critics counter that the fact the
meeting will be chaired by Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chief
executive officer of food multinational Nestle of
Switzerland, and Phillip Condit, CEO of US aircraft
giant Boeing, signals the pro-corporate slant of the
assembly.
"This is normal for the World Economic
Forum, to see itself as a broker of global politics and
economics," said Peter Bosshard, a Swiss national who
for years lobbied against the WEF's exclusiveness and
pro-business agenda. "Whenever they see a chance, they
try to jump into the fray," added Bosshard, also policy
director with the California-based advocacy group
International Rivers Network.
There is a concern
that the region would be an easy conquest for
multinationals, given its dictatorial regimes and the
fragility of civil society. And given the short notice
of the meeting, there might not be enough time for
thorough discussion.
"Certainly at the core of
their [WEF] mission is helping the global corporate
system," said Bosshard. He noted that the UN has yet to
hold a meeting to discuss the future of the Middle East
while the WEF is eagerly moving to do so.
The
WEF's January meeting in Davos came under fire when it
served as a platform for members of the then exiled
Iraqi opposition to address participants. That
unscheduled talk appeared to be part of a US public
relations campaign that sought to make use of the high
profile, well attended annual gathering to sway
reluctant world opinion towards a military invasion of
Iraq.
Despite assertions by WEF officials that
it is an inclusive and democratic institution, many
civil society groups complain that the WEF alone picks
the politicians and business leaders invited to
participate at the annual gathering, and they charge
that the business-orientated group is unfit to play a
larger role in society. The forum is advised by an
international business council comprised of CEOs from
the world's largest companies.
"So even if they
invited democratic leaders, it's still they who put the
agenda and select or limit participants," said Bosshard.
(Inter Press Service)
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