Leaders from all over the world are arriving in Jordan for the World Economic Forum on the Middle East which takes place in South Shuneh on the shores of the Dead Sea on Friday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are among the 1,000 more participants, including 16 heads of state, from 56 countries who are expected to attend the forum slated for May 18-20.

The forum, under the theme "Putting Diversity to Work," will focus on the efforts to accelerate economic diversification in a time of prosperity for the region, while emphasizing the urgency of promoting peace and understanding in a region of great religious and ethnic diversity.

A meeting of the G11 group of developing countries, including Croatia, Ecuador, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Sri Lanka and El Salvador, is due to be held on the sidelines of the forum on May 19.

Source: Xinhua