20110128
reuters

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Egypt is the absent ghost at this year's Davos feast.

The global elite of bankers, CEOs and politicians attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum have generally sidestepped any mention of the protests sweeping the Arab world's most populous nation.

The Egyptian official delegation pulled out of the Forum just before it started. Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, a Davos regular, gave no reason for his cancellation, but it coincided with the violent protests against the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

"When CEOs stay for too long they become stale. So when you have a leader like in Egypt this was a very natural thing to happen," said a Saudi executive, who declined to be identified because he was related to the royal family.

Arab executives attending the Forum followed events in Cairo closely, some watching pictures of clashes between protesters and police on their iPad tablet computers in between sessions.

"There's a lot of uncertainty about what's happening in Egypt," said Abdullah Saeed Bazid, executive vice president of corporate strategy at Saudi's SABIC, when asked about the unrest. "But I think things will not end up like Tunisia and the government will gain control again."

Marco Dunand, chairman and co-founder of energy trader Mercura, said that if the unrest in Egypt spread across the Middle East, the consequences for oil supplies could be serious.

"Whatever government will come in, Egypt will export oil," he told Reuters. "You may have a temporary disruption. If it starts spreading into the Middle East that is a different game. If it goes to Saudi Arabia or similar, people will start paying attention. That could bring a lot of volatility for sure."