The presence of Arab officials at the World Economic Forum’s meeting at the Swiss resort town of Davos was rare and under-represented, writes Wayne Arnold for The National. Only six percent of the roughly 2,500 participants were from the Middle East and North Africa.

The forum is known as a chance to rub shoulders with the “world’s movers and shakers,” and as a platform to discuss the future of the global economy. It provides an opportunity to re-regulate the world’s banking system by incorporating the views of politicians and society, as well as the banking industry, reports the Gulf News.

According to Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard Chartered Group, the world is witnessing “a shift of economic power from the West to the East.” The National concurs that the Gulf is part of that shift, yet it appears to be reluctant to take the seat it has earned at the table. Only about 20 participants represented the United Arab Emirates at the forum.

In response, the chief executive of Abraaj Capital, Arif Naqvi, warned that efforts in the West to re-regulate the financial industry could be used as an excuse to slow down or even reverse some much-needed deregulation in emerging markets.

“When western governments talk about regulation and re-regulation, our governments take notice,” said Naqvi. “The problem with that is we’ve just come out of regulation and protectionism.” Despite these allegations, The National indicates that the future of the global economy and financial regulation would have benefited more had there been greater Arab input.

On the other hand, Al-Arabiya set a new precedent by hosting the first Arab network televised debate at the World Economic Forum under the theme of “Rethinking the Balance of Power in the Middle East.”

The debate gathered senior government officials and top business decision-makers, who discussed their concerns on the near and long-term implication of a different power equation in the region, reports Al-Bawaba. Participants also discussed the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Middle East peace process and Iran’s nuclear program.

Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister, pointed out that “the main source of threat to the region lies in Israel, and not necessarily in Iran.” According to Fayyad, Israel continually fails in fulfilling its obligations to the region. Similarly, the Prime Minister of Jordan, Samir Al-Rifai, warned, “The failure to achieve peace between Arabs and Israel could lead to further terrorism and conflicts in the world.”

However, while the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, advised the Arab states, Iran and the international community to collaborate towards achieving a peaceful nuclear program, the shadow foreign secretary of Britain’s Conservative Party, William Hague, had a different view.

Hague argued that Arab countries seem to hold a different stance on Iran behind closed doors, adding that “Arabs come to us asking to do something to stop Iran’s nuclear program.”

In the same respect, Khaled Janahi, the chairman of Vision 3 in the UAE, also referred to double standards within the Arab world. He pointed out that some Arab officials tend to “lack honesty and transparency in their official and public statements towards Iran.”

While the debate on Al-Arabiya stirred up some valuable remarks, The National concludes that the Davos forum was a missed opportunity for Arab officials to set the record straight.