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Qatar to Host Inaugural Forbes CEO Forum in Middle East

Recognizing an Emerging Business and Political Power Center, Top Regional Leaders Will Tackle Risk and Reward in Middle East

The Forbes CEO Forum

DOHA, Qatar--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine, America’s leading business publication, will be presenting its prestigious CEO Forum for the first time in the Middle East, choosing Doha, Qatar, as its host city. The Forbes CEO Forum, hosted by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (QDREIC), is titled, “Driving Growth: Risk and Reward in the Middle East,” and will be held February 26 – 28, 2007 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha. Qatar is widely regarded as a leading economic center in the Middle East, and for its excellent relations with countries around the globe. His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, has generously pledged his official Patronage for the Forum.

The gathering will explore investment opportunities and wealth distribution, and it will provide networking opportunities and practical information for doing business in the Middle East across a variety of industries. The Forum will attract the region’s key corporate CEOs, Chairmen and Presidents, as well as top international executives with regional commercial objectives and interests. Forbes chose Doha, Qatar, to host its inaugural Middle East event because of its aggressive commercial, cultural and political initiatives; its favorable business climate; and its wide regard for reform-minded leadership and friendly relations with countries around the globe.

“The growth and success of entrepreneurial capitalism depends on communication – on executives, investors and venture capitalists coming together to learn, to network and to exchange ideas,” said Steve Forbes, President and CEO of Forbes. “This Forum, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, promises to create a unique opportunity for those interested in doing business in the region to engage in the dialogues and relationship-building that make economic growth possible. Qatar, which understands the imperative of economic progress, is the ideal location for Forbes’ first Middle East CEO Forum.”

Fully owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, Host Sponsor Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company facilitates infrastructure and socio-economic development in the wake of Qatar’s phenomenal economic growth, managing the creation and co-ordination of financially sound property development and investment opportunities that span the globe. “We are honored to be participating in the Forbes CEO Middle East Forum as Host Sponsor in our capital city of Doha, Qatar,” said Nasser Al Ansari, Chief Executive Officer of QDREIC. “Qatari Diar aims to put Qatar on the map as the regional epicenter of high-powered business and investment.”

“We have assembled an unparalleled group of speakers, leaders and decision makers for this inaugural event, which will be a harbinger for international discussions of the economic opportunities in the Middle East,” said Sulaiman al-Hattlan, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Arabia magazine and chairman of the conference.

Leading Doha-based event manager Qatar Expo is the proud organizer of the Forbes CEO Middle East Forum alongside Forbes’ team in the U.S. Qatar Expo, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Group For Projects, is chaired by Sheikh Jabor bin Yousef bin Jassim Al Thani, and is Qatar’s leading organizer of world class conferences, exhibitions, and major socioeconomic and cultural events.

The agenda for the conference, as well as the impressive portfolio of speakers and panelists, will be announced to the international press in the near future.

About Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company

Wholly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, QDREIC was established in December 2004 to support Qatar’s growing economy and to co-ordinate the country’s real estate development priorities. Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company is responsible for creating and coordinating financially sound property development opportunities that will generate sustainable and tangible socio-economic benefits. QDREIC’s vision is to become the region’s most trusted and effective real estate investment company by focusing its value proposition on the creation of quality, well-planned and desirable developments. QDREIC also provides local and foreign property developers with further opportunities to invest in numerous projects across the globe, including but not limited to Qatar, Morocco, Egypt, Mauritania, Cuba, and Europe.

For more information on Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, please contact Mike Holtzman at Brown Lloyd James in New York: mikeh@brownlloydjames.com.

About Forbes

Forbes is the publisher of Forbes, the nation’s leading business magazine, and its international edition, Forbes Asia, which together reach a worldwide audience of nearly five million readers. Forbes.com, the company’s Internet business, which is the homepage for the world’s business leaders and the #1 business site on the Web, averages 15 million unique visitors a month. The company also publishes ForbesLife, the magazine’s lifestyle supplement. Other company groups include: Forbes Conference Group; Forbes on Fox, a weekly television program; Forbes Investment Advisory Group; Forbes Newsletter Group; and Forbes Custom Media. There are currently eight local-language editions of Forbes, which are published in: Japan, Korea, China, Russia, Arabia (Dubai), Poland and Turkey. In August 2006, Elevation Partners, a private equity firm, became a minority shareholder in a newly formed company, Forbes Media, LLC, the publisher of Forbes magazine, Forbes.com and other media properties. For more information, visit http://www.ForbesInc.com.

About United Group for Projects

Qatar Expo is a fully owned subsidiary of United Group For Projects, one of the leading business players in the Gulf State of Qatar and a group that proudly employs a strategic, innovative approach to the future of Qatari tourism, sport, entertainment and industry. Chaired by Sheikh Jabor bin Yousef bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar Expo is committed to bringing together diverse and exciting concepts and projects from around the globe, and is an established market leader in the fields of conference production, event and exhibition management, project and concept development, and world class consultancy. Qatar Expo continues to form global alliances to allow major expansion into world scale conferences, globally recognized entertainment artists, and international exhibitions. The near future will also see the Group diversify into public relations, high-profile sponsorships and corporate affiliations, and media management.

For more information, please visit www.ug4projects.com

Visit www.ceomiddleeast.com and www.ug4projects.com/forbes for sponsorship opportunities, delegate registration and conference details on the Middle East’s business conference of the decade, the Forbes CEO Middle East Forum.

Forbes
Monie Begley, +1 212-620-1887
mbegley@forbes.com
or
Brown Lloyd James
Jamie Serino, 917-379-3787
JamieS@BrownLloydJames.com