The Coca-Cola Company

Company Sponsors World Economic Forum Summit In Egypt

June 09, 2006 edition

Our Company sponsored the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) regional summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. More than 1,100 corporate leaders, government officials, media and non-government organization (NGO) representatives from all over the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and North America gathered May 20-22 to discuss how the private sector can drive the Arab world’s development agenda.

The summit provided an excellent opportunity to meet with opinion leaders and discuss the Company’s work in that region.

Curt Ferguson, president, North & West Africa Division, joined the finance ministers of Egypt and Tunisia on a panel discussion about economic reform in the Middle East. Addressing the audience, H.E. Yousef Boutros-Ghali, Egypt’s finance minister, said, "Curt has been with us (through the reform process). Last year, we dropped taxes and despite the fact that I predicted it would take three years to recover the same level of overall revenue for the finance ministry, today he is paying me more tax than prior to the reduction."

Ferguson added: "The economic climate that Dr. Boutros-Ghali and his team have created in Egypt has allowed us to make the case that return on capital here warranted further investment in our Company’s Egyptian operations. As a result, we have poured $200 million into our business over the past two years. Today, our local bottlers are profitable and the system is expanding. We recently hired 425 new employees -- making good on our commitment to grow employment for Egyptians as we expand our business."

Ahmet Bozer, president, Eurasia and Middle East Division, attended the summit and participated in a "Manifesto-like" work session on re-branding the Middle East. Bozer joined bottler representatives from Egypt and Lebanon exploring how to enhance the image of Middle East with international business people and tourists. The group decided everyone in attendance could help to combat misperceptions about the region, and help attract foreign investment and tourism, by projecting the area’s positive attributes.

The Company also sponsored two private media events hosted by the WEF: one featuring H.E. Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, prime minister of Egypt, and another with H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkey.