World economic forum opens in Kazakhstan

ASTANA, May 3 (Itar-Tass) -- Ways of the development of the global
economy and finance, new prospects for business and attraction of
investments, as well as encouraging integration processes will be in the
focus of attention at a two-day economic forum that opens here on Tuesday.
"About 5,000 people, including some 1,000 delegates from 78 world
nations will take part in the forum," Kazakhstan's Minister for Economic
Integration Zhanar Aitzhanova told Itar-Tass. Among participants in the
forum there will be seven Nobel Prize winners, heads of international
organizations, well-known politicians.
"The forum will discuss the functioning of the Customs Union and new
possibilities of the common economic space. This subject will be raised at
a meeting between Secretary General of the Eurasian Economic Community
Tair Masurov, first deputy chairman of the CIS committee of Russia's
Council of Federation Vladimir Lityushkin, Kazakh scientists and experts,"
the minister noted.
Among the topics for discussion will be economic peculiarities of
tourism in the contemporary world. The session dedicated to tourism will
be attended by Taleb D. Rifai, the secretary-general of the World Tourism
Organization, and heads international travel companies, official from
state agencies, and professors from the world's leading universities. They
will discuss investment cooperation in the tourism sector, and
implementation of international projects.
The forum will also discuss the most pressing issue, i.e. food
security, especially in Central Asia. The food security session will be
attended by Jacques Diouf, the director-general Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), officials from state authorities
of Central Asian countries, international analysts, representatives from
the Customs Union member countries.
Within the forum's framework, two congresses - Eurasian and Innovation
- will be held. The former will be aimed at broadening trade and economic
ties and developing investment cooperation in Eurasia. The latter one will
focus on inter-state policies, integration processes and mechanisms of
international innovation cooperation.
The Astana Invest 2011 forum will be held concurrently with the world
economic forum to discuss ways to encourage trade and economic cooperation
and create a mutually beneficial investment climate across Eurasia.
The forum is expected to yield agreements and memorandums between
large Kazakh and foreign organizations, agreements on investments into
infrastructure and the banking sector.
Traditionally, the forum held since 2008 will be crowned by an open
letter to heads of G20 states with recommendations on the recovery and
development of the global economy.