Tentative Agenda - Economic and Social Commission for Western ...

United Nations Economic And Social
International Labor Organization
Commission For Western Asia
Regional High-Level Consultative Forum on the Impacts of the International Financial Crisis on the
ESCWA Member Countries: the Way Forward
5-7 May 2009, Dedeman Damascus Hotel, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
08:00 – 09:00 REGISTRATION
09:00 – 09:30 OPENING CEREMONY
TENTATIVE AGENDA
DAY ONE, Tuesday 5 May 2009
H.E. Mr. Abdallah Al-Dardari, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Syrian Arab Republic
H.E. Mr. Bader Al Dafa, Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary, UN-ESCWA
Mr. Maurizio Bussi, Deputy Regional Director, ILO
09:30 - 10:15 Press Conference: LAUNCHING OF UN-ESCWA FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION entitled
“Annual Review of Developments in Globalization and Regional Integration in Arab
Countries, 2008”
H.E. Mr. Tayseer Al-Radawi, Head of the Syrian State Planning Commission
H.E. Mr. Bader Al Dafa, Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary, UN-ESCWA
Mr. Nabil Safwat, Chief, Economic Development and Globalization Division, UN-ESCWA
Press Conference
10:15 – 10:45 COFFEE BREAK
10:45 – 12:45 SESSION ONE: Sectoral Impact of International Financial Crisis on ESCWA Member
Countries moderated by Mr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary General for
Economic Development and member of the Commission of Experts of the President of the UN
General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System (TBC)
Mr. Khaled Hussein, First Economic Affairs Officer, UN-ESCWA
“The impact of the financial crisis on the ESCWA Member Countries”
Mr. Mahmoud Abd El Fadil Hussein, Professor of Development Economics, Cairo University
“The impact of the crisis on the macroeconomic growth in the ESCWA Member Countries”
Mr. Salaheddin Abosedra, Regional Advisor, Economic Development, UN-ESCWA
“The impact of the crisis on world oil market and its implications on the GCC countries”
Ms. Nicole Moussa, Investment Trends and Data Section, UNCTAD
“The impact of the crisis on the inflows of FDI to the ESCWA Member Countries”
Mr. Fadi Khalaf, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges
“The impact of the Crisis on the Stock Markets in the ESCWA Member Countries”
Discussion

United Nations Economic And Social
International Labor Organization
Commission For Western Asia
Regional High-Level Consultative Forum on the Impacts of the International Financial Crisis on the
ESCWA Member Countries: the Way Forward
5-7 May 2009, Dedeman Damascus Hotel, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
12:45 – 13:00 COFFEE BREAK
13:00 – 14:30 SESSION TWO: Sectoral Impact of International Financial Crisis on ESCWA Member
Countries (ctnd), moderated by Mr. Jan Kregel, Senior Scholar with the Monetary Policy and
Financial Structure program at the Levy Economics Institute of Board College and member of the
Commission of Experts of the President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the
International Monetary and Financial System (TBC)
Mr. Eckart Woertz, Program Manager Economics, Gulf Research Center
“The impact of the crisis on the economies of the GCC countries with focus on the
Sovereign Wealth Funds”
Mr. Bachir Hamdouch, Professor of Economics at the Mohamed V University
“The Impact of the crisis on the inflow of workers’ remittances in the ESCWA Member
Countries”
Mr. Fouad Shaker, Secretary General, Union of Arab Banks
“The impact of the crisis on the banking sector in the ESCWA Member Countries”
Mr. Farrukh Iqbal, Sector Manager, MNSED, Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank
“The impact of the crisis on the trade of the ESCWA Member Countries”
Mr. Hussein Amach, President of Al Jazeera University (Dair Ezzour, Syria)
“The impact of the financial crisis on the inflows of ODA to ESCWA Member Countries”
Discussion
END OF DAY ONE

United Nations Economic And Social
International Labor Organization
Commission For Western Asia
Regional High-Level Consultative Forum on the Impacts of the International Financial Crisis on the
ESCWA Member Countries: the Way Forward
5-7 May 2009, Dedeman Damascus Hotel, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
DAY TWO, Wednesday 6 May 2009
09:00– 10:30 SESSION THREE: The Global Response to the Crisis and The United Nations System
Response to the Crisis, moderated by M Farrukh Iqbal, Sector Manager, MNSED, Middle East
and North Africa Region, World Bank (TBC)
Mr. Yu Yongding, Director, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, Former Member of Monetary Policy Committee, People’s Bank of China and member of
the Commission of Experts of the President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the
International Monetary and Financial System
Mr. Jan Kregel, Senior scholar with the Monetary Policy and Financial Structure program at the
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and member of the Commission of Experts of the
President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial
System
Mr. Hazem Fahmy, Chief, Multistakeholder Unit, United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, New York
Discussion
10:30 – 11:00 COFFEE BREAK
11:00 – 13:00 SESSION FOUR: National Responses to the Crisis, moderated by H.E. Mr. Tayseer
Al-Radawi, Head of the Syrian State Planning Commission
National Responses: Representatives of ESCWA Member countries
Discussion
13:00 – 13:15 COFFEE BREAK
13:15 – 14:45 SESSION FIVE: Regional Responses to the Crisis, moderated by Mr. Fadi Khalaf,
General Secretary of Union of Arab Stock (TBC)
Regional responses: Representative from the Arab Planning Institute, League of Arab States,
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Representatives of the Development Funds in
the ESCWA Member Countries.
Discussion
END OF DAY TWO

United Nations Economic And Social
International Labor Organization
Commission For Western Asia
Regional High-Level Consultative Forum on the Impacts of the International Financial Crisis on the
ESCWA Member Countries: the Way Forward
5-7 May 2009, Dedeman Damascus Hotel, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
DAY THREE, Thursday 7 May 2009
09:00– 10:30 SESSION SIX: From a Financial Crisis to a Job Crisis? The Social Impact of the
Crisis and Policy Responses in the ESCWA Region, moderated by Ms. Christina Behrendt, Social
Security Specialist, ILO
Mr. Issam Maldaoun, Deputy Ministrer of Social Affairs and Labour, Syrian Arab Republic
Mr. Jameel Hmeidan, Undersecretary, Ministry of Labour, Bahrain
Mr. Fahallah Omrani, Union of Textile Workers, Jordan
Mr. Mounir Bsat, Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Lebanon
Mr. Zafiris Tzannatos, Independent Consultant, Lebanon
Discussion
10:30 – 11:00 COFFEE BREAK
11:00– 13:00 SESSION SEVEN: Concluding Remarks and Adoption of Declaration, moderated by
Mr. Nabil Safwat, Chief, Economic Development and Globalization Division, ESCWA
Discussion and adoption of the declaration of the Regional High-Level Consultative Forum on the
Impacts of the International Financial Crisis on the ESCWA Member Countries: the Way Forward.
END OF THE FORUM