Nearly two years ago, Davos 2011, the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum was living the events in Egypt and Tunisia that eventually led to new regimes emerging in some of the North Africa and Middle East nations. Many people around the world are worried about the unchartered territory the events ushered in with regard to the economy, governance and security of the nations and the region.
The Davos 2013 meeting, which started on Monday, is even more important for the region’s future than the one in 2011. The events of two years ago led to authorities wondering about the outlook for the short term, as the excitement from the different revolutions took hold.
Today, one can take stock of both the successes and failures and have a better understanding how to make the outcomes of the changes produce positive results and what role the international community will have in the success.
One main issue in the meeting will be jobs. The overwhelming consensus is jobs are the great challenge of governments in both North Africa and the Middle East particularly for younger people. The forum will bring together ministers in the region with young leaders with an aim to create a job creation ideology.
Security in the region is another main theme of this year’s Davos meeting. Both on a national and regional level, security will be a main topic for members attending. The problem that took place in Algeria last week and the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Mali will test the security capabilities within the entire region, said one member attending.
