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Oil at top of World Economic Forum agenda

  • Story Highlights
  • The global spotlight was on Egypt this week for the World Economic Forum summit
  • George W. Bush attended but focus was on the region's rising eonomic profile
  • The Gulf countries were talking about how to use their oil windfall the diversify wisely
  • Will the Gulf countries share their petrodollars with the non-oil producing countries
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SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (CNN) -- The glare of the global spotlight on the Middle East this week almost outshone the shimmering sun reflecting off the Red Sea.

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King Abdullah of Jordan: "The Middle East is in an exceptional position to move forward"

The source of all the excitement? A gathering of the planet's power brokers, including George W. Bush, at the World Economic Forum regional summit in Sharm El Sheikh.

Surprisingly, the focus wasn't on the U.S. President and all the fanfare that accompanies him. The Middle East's rising economic profile in the world and the price of oil were the main topics of discussion.

King Abdullah of Jordan was one of the main speakers at the forum and he was very optimistic about the region's future: "The Middle East is in an exceptional place and position to move forward," he told CNN.

With pan-Arab growth likely to hit six percent or more this year, the region certainly has the momentum.

In Egypt, for example, tourism revenues are growing by 25 percent -- but inflation is almost keeping pace with that growth -- hitting a hefty 16 percent in April this year.

And the region's most populous nation is not alone in feeling the pressure of high prices -- the Gulf countries are being hit particularly hard.

"Part of the inflation is due to the huge boom we are going through, the other part is imported with all the materials and the increase in world food prices," Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Bahrain's Minister of Finance explained.

The huge boom is created by oil money. Record prices around the world are creating a huge influx of cash and the region's leaders seem to understand this is a rare window of opportunity.

It is an oil boom bigger than first explosion oil interest in the 70s. Implicit in the windfall is the knowledge it can't last and this means the pressure is on Gulf nations to diversify their economies and train their people for the future.

"They are asking how do we spend $2 trillion? They say we need education, we need money for this and that. Throw money at it ... it is not obvious that the outcome will be what could hoped for," said Jean-Pierre Lehmann, a political economist at IMD business school in Switzerland, defining the confusion around what the region's petrodollars should be spent on.

Business leaders hope the money in the Gulf will be deployed correctly -- and mainly that the oil rich countries will share their wealth.

"There is room for the oil producing countries to give a hand to the non-oil producing countries to make these kind of imbalances and gaps less and everybody would flourish at the end of the day," said Reem Badran, CEO of investment company, Kuwaiti Jordanian Holding Co.

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