SHUNEH (Jordan), June 23: More than 50 top Middle Eastern business leaders launched an Arab Business Council at the World Economic Forum here Monday to bolster regional competitiveness and ties with the world community.

“The council will create cooperative action among leading members of the Arab corporate sector to enhance the competitiveness of the Arab region and to facilitate its integration into the global economy,” a WEF statement said.

The chairman of its seven-member executive committee, Shafiq Gabr of Egypt, said the council would help tackle “slow growth, weak investment flows and the perceived instability that currently mar the region’s potential.”

“We stand ready to work with our governments in ... enabling the region to take its rightful place in the global economy,” said Mr Gabr, chairman of the Artoc group for investment and development.

The council plans to hold two international private sector meetings over the next year in an effort to “restore a constructive dialogue between our region and the most developed economies,” Mr Gabr said.

In its first task, the council adopted steps to promote business standards in the region, including “covenants on corporate governance and combating corruption and bribery,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of Nestle recognized in a plenary session that the potential of the Middle Eastern market still needed to be tapped.

“The Middle East is at a critical junction. Today there is an opportunity to establish a comprehensive, sustainable order based on the self-determination of all people in the region,” Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said.—AFP