-Event to be held at Dead Sea 21-23 May, with an emphasis on the advancement of youth and employment

17 May, 2015

Zain Group, a leading innovator in mobile telecom in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces its strategic partnership of this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) set to take place in Jordan’s Dead Sea 21-23 May. The World Economic Forum is the international institution committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

As a strategic partner associate, Zain will also participate at the WEF in Davos in January 2016 and be part of two WEF Global Challenge Partnerships that focus on ‘Employment, Skills and Human Capital’ and the one hand and ‘The Future of the Internet’ on the other.

With the full support and presence of Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, the Forum is convening over 800 key leaders from government, business, and civil society to support a comprehensive and forward-looking vision for prosperity and peace across the MENA region. Senior executives from Zain Group and Zain Jordan will be involved in panel sessions and key discussions that will be take place over the 3 day event.

Directly building on recent initiatives by leaders in the region and internationally, this special meeting will provide a high-level public/private coordination platform to respond to shared economic, societal, and geo-political imperatives. Particular emphasis will be placed on the advancement of youth, which is absolutely key for long-term success of current efforts to counter marginalization and radicalization.

As a leading innovator and employer in the region, Zain Group deemed it appropriate to participate in this event given that the company’s impact extends well beyond its business operations, and that the region is going through a period of unprecedented change and uncertainty.

Scott Gegenheimer, Zain Group CEO , commented: “The Middle East is experiencing an unprecedented ‘youth bulge’ with around a third of the population under the age of 30; which is the highest proportion of youth to adults in the region’s history. By partnering with the World Economic Forum, we aim to play a pivotal role in helping address the unemployment gap by supporting governments and other institutions to implement sound economic and social policies. In doing so, we can capitalize on this ‘bulge’ by being more productive and working together towards building a better future for all.”

Gegenheimer continued: “Technology is playing an increasingly important role in the lives of people both at home and at work, this is particularly true in the case of young people. As a provider of the latest technologies, we are fully committed to using our influence to improve the lives of people in all the markets in which we operate, beyond our 46 million customer base.”

In light of the changing geo-politics and geo-economics of the region, the forthcoming World Economic Forum meeting will also hold high-level dialogs on the security and humanitarian imperatives with the goal to advance shared understanding and action, including with regard to those conflict areas in the MENA region.

The program of the Dead Sea meeting will be based on the Forum’s Transformation Maps, an innovative analytical tool to inform decision making on the region. Reflecting the Forum’s status as an international institution for public/private cooperation, the meeting will integrate ongoing, impact-oriented initiatives such as the New Vision for Arab Employment, Arab Economies in Transition, and the Global Strategic Infrastructure Initiative.

Ends

About Zain Group

Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 46.1 million active customers as of 31 March, 2015. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in: Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages ‘touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in ‘INWI’, through a joint venture. Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (stock ticker: ZAIN).For more, please email info@zain.com or visit: www.zain.com; www.facebook.com/zain; www.twitter.com/zain; www.youtube.com/zain; www.instagram.com/zaingroup; www.linkedin.com/company/zain