JORDAN TO HOST SPECIAL WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

UNCLAS AMMAN 002504 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON KPAO OVIP JO SUBJECT: JORDAN TO HOST SPECIAL WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM MEETING ¶1. Post received original letters from King Abdullah to President Bush, NSA Rice, Secretary Powell, USTR Zoellick, Administrator Natsios, and Senator John Kerry, inviting them to participate in an extraordinary meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to be held in Jordan June 21-23. The theme of the meeting is "Aligning Visions for a Shared Future." Planning Minister Bassem Awadallah, who is taking the lead in organizing the government of Jordan for this event, said that the idea was to have a peace summit in the wake of the liberation of Iraq. It would be different from the annual Davos meetings in that the focus would be more on politics than on economics, he said. Awadallah also explained that the overall list of invitees had been prepared by the WEF secretariat, which had asked the King to help encourage SIPDIS some specific high-level participants to attend. ¶2. Following is the text of the body of the King's letter, which was identical for each of the six recipients. Post has faxed copies to NEA/ARN and will also pouch the originals to NEA/ARN for distribution to addressees. Begin text. On behalf of the 1,000 Chief Executives of the member companies of The World Economic Forum, I am very pleased to extend this personal invitation to join the world's leadership for an Extraordinary Annual Meeting to be held in Jordan. From the 21st to the 23rd of June 2003, under the theme of "Aligning Visions for a Shared Future," world leaders from business, governments and civil society will rally by the Dead Sea in Jordan for a comprehensive and top level session devoted to boosting global cooperation in a time of extreme volatility and economic uncertainty. Three major tracks will form the bulk of our agenda, namely: ¶1. The economic and development agenda of the Middle East; ¶2. The world's geo political situation; ¶3. The global business and economic agenda. Commitments to actively participate in the meeting at the highest level have already been confirmed by numerous government and business leaders worldwide. This Extraordinary Annual Meeting convenes the "Davos Community" in an effort to boost a spirit of cooperation rather than confrontation. Furthermore, the urgency of restoring confidence in our common future and systems of global governance, the imperative for world business and political leaders to lead our citizens out of the current economic downturn, increasing the fight against poverty, rebuilding and stabilizing the Middle East all need our immediate attention more than ever. Our discussions in Jordan will be followed by the world media and should become a powerful symbol for renewing our mutual commitments towards a peaceful Middle East and global growth. I very much hope that we will have the pleasure of welcoming you to Jordan. End Text. Gnehm