For the last two years, the Cairo Investment Forum has been packed with booths, attendees and headline speakers, according to dpa. What a difference a financial crisis makes. "Where is the so-called exhibition," one young man asked at the event's opening, clearly unwilling to believe that this year's event was meant to be a continuation of the galas of recent years. While the first forum attracted more than 1,100 delegates from 20 countries, attendance this year hovered around 900. While booths previously took up every square inch of the exhibition, this year there was enough leftover space to set up the press room in former exhibition space. And, unlike the 2007 forum, when Gamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the National Democratic Party (NDP) assistant secretary general, gave a speech, there were no sponsored keynote speeches this year. Only Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa delivered a keynote speech at the event organized by the Lebanese economic group al- Iktissad Wal Aamal and Egypt's Ministry of Investment. It was squeezed into the schedule on Monday, with no sponsor announced. Speeches by Egyptian officials only added to the mood. Most were severely subdued, especially compared to the upbeat speeches given at the Euromoney conference held in Cairo in October. Instead of assuring their audience there will be no - or a minimal - effect on the local economy, officials reminisced about the past fiscal year's economic boom in Egypt, with only a glimpse of hope for the coming period. For example, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif focused on past growth in his speech: "Our economy grew by more than 7.2 per cent in the fiscal year 2007-2008, a high level compared to the 4.1 per cent four years ago," he said, further noting a previous jump in foreign direct investment, thanks to the industrial and financial sector For the most part, Egyptian ministers echoed the mantra: "Egypt is affected, but there is still room for growth." Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tareq Kamel noted that the credit crisis was the reason behind the recent delays in licensing for fixed-line phone services. Some participants took hope from the fact that attendees seemed to be looking forward to the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait in January and the possibility of more economic cooperation across borders. "We (Arab states) have to take our visions from a local to regional level. We should also specify a deadline for the proposed Customs Union and unifying investment policies to be put into effect," Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid said. Besides discussing the Customs Union, the Kuwait gathering will also discuss the global crisis and whether Arab financial oganizations need to be restructured to help Arab states face the crisis, according to Mussa. "If about 320 million people are united from East to West by watching the same soap opera or reading a certain book, then we can turn this unity into reality by creating a common market that would connect us all," Mussa urged his audience.
