EGYPT: WEF IN SHARM EL SHEIKH PUTS EGYPT IN A

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 003271

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: WEF IN SHARM EL SHEIKH PUTS EGYPT IN A
GOOD LIGHT (WITH A FEW BLEMISHES)


Classified by Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Egypt managed to successfully host its
first regional World Economic Forum (WEF) from May 20-22 in
the shiny new Sharm el Sheikh International Congress Center
without significant public glitches. The most newsworthy
events were the meeting between Palestinian President Abu
Mazen and Israeli Foreign Minister Livni and plenary
discussion with Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa and
the Deputy Secretary. Some participants grumbled about the
weakness of the formal program but, as usual for WEF events,
the real work was done in bilateral discussions on the
margins. However, after significant friction between WEF and
GOE staff in the run up to the event, the Forum will return
to Jordan for next year's regional event. End summary.


2. (C) The GOE is looking back with satisfaction on what it
deems a successful WEF regional conference. The event went
off without any major problems; a welcome contrast to the
debacle at the aviation expo at Sharm el Sheikh in March of
this year. That event was badly marred by heavy-handed
Egyptian security, which prevented exhibitors and visitors
from reaching the exhibits and did more harm than good to
Egypt's efforts to become a conference destination. At the
WEF, security was heavy (both because of President Mubarak's
presence and the recent Dahab bombings) but managed for the
most part to avoid the usual level of bother to guests and
journalists.


3. (C) The GOE's primary goal was to use the WEF to
highlight Egypt's centrality to political and economic
discourse in the region. The bilateral meeting between Abu
Mazen and Livni, the highest-level talks between Israeli and
Palestinian officials in nearly a year, helped underscore
Egypt's continuing central role in the peace process. The
plenary session with the Deputy Secretary and Amre Moussa was
much anticipated and well-attended. While Moussa had some
success playing to the audience with standard applause lines
about the plight of the Palestinians, he alienated other
attendees by declining to seriously discuss regional
democratic and economic reform. President Mubarak's
participation was limited to his opening address which, was
reported as a rebuke to the United States on reform, but was
in fact a dull rehash of Mubarak cliches.


4. (C) The Egyptian Government was comprehensively
represented. While Finance Minister Boutros Ghali was
largely occupied with the contemporaneous BMENA finance
ministerial, Trade Minister Rachid, Investment Minister
Mohieldin and Transport Minister Mansour were omnipresent,
participating in panel discussions, giving press interviews
in the lobby, and having bilateral discussions in quiet
corners. Even EGIS Director Omar Soliman walked the halls.
Gamal Mubarak played a prominent role, appearing on panels
and working the halls, and setting society tongues a-wagging
by bringing out his fiancee for their first public appearance
as a couple. His energy flagged, however, and by his meeting
at the end of the conference with CODEL Kolbe (septel) his
pitch on Egyptian reform had turned sour and defensive.


5. (C) Attendance from the region was good, but not great.
We were told by an Egyptian organizer a few days before the
conference that Mubarak's aides were pressing him to work the
phones to generate more high-level Gulf participation. Also,
despite the handbooks the GOE sprinkled about the conference
hall and the banners it posted along Sharm's roadways, WEF
participants didn't appear entirely convinced that Egypt was
indeed "Open For Business - Open For Competition - Open For
Change." Some participants were impressed by the size of the
U.S. delegation, which included Secretary Snow, Deputy
Secretary Zoellick, Senators Hatch and Smith, and a

SIPDIS
seven-member CODEL from the House. Others wondered whether
the absence of Secretary Rice or a White House representative
reflected WEF fatigue, Egypt fatigue, or a combination of
both.


6. (C) While the conference came off smoothly, there were
tensions beneath the surface. Exasperated WEF counterparts
barked "never again!" when asked if the WEF would return to
Egypt in the near future. Turf battles between the Ministry
of Trade and Industry (the lead GOE agency for the event) and
the Ministries of Tourism and Foreign Affairs created
conflicting requests and demands on the WEF staff. This
situation compared unfavorably with previous Dead Sea WEFs,
where hyperactive GOJ Planning Minister Bassam Awadallah
solved problems from hotel rooms to badges quickly and
amicably. There was no equivalent in Sharm, where GOE
ministers appeared more concerned by ministerial prerogatives
than efficiency.


7. (C) At the staff level, the irresistable force of GOE
imperiousness met the immovable object of WEF exclusivity;
WEF insistence on limiting participation led to GOE threats
to stop WEF officials at immigration. The situation came to
a head on the penultimate afternoon of the conference when
the Presidency insisted that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan
skip his keynote address, one of the centerpieces of the
conference, in order to meet President Mubarak. Peace was
only restored that evening during a "summit" of senior WEF
and GOE officials. While all's well that ends well, our WEF
interlocutors seem happy to be returning to the Dead Sea for
next year's conference.
RICCIARDONE