TEHRAN – Sherif El Diwany, the director of the Middle East at the World Economic Forum, said on Wednesday that the global financial crisis threatens globalization.

The economic crisis is a major headache to the world, El Diwany said in a meeting with Parviz Esmaeili, chief editor of the Tehran Times newspaper and Mehr News Agency.
“What is happening today is going to raise serious questions whether globalization can continue at the same speed that it has been going for the last twenty years,” he pointed out.
It is essential to find a way to improve the economic opportunities for the poor who are left behind, he added.
The credit crunch is also threatening the agreements made at the Doha talks.
He said one of the main tasks of the World Economic Forum is to give necessary advice to countries hit by the crisis.
He said he held talked with Iranian officials on holding seminars about global risks at Tehran’s center for international studies to integrate Iranian perspectives.
He also called Iran an important country in the region which can host WEF meeting after future meetings in Jordan and Morocco in 2009 and 2010.
“In the forum we are looking for a partner that is actively involved and willing to invite other countries to talk without any conditions,” he added
For his part, Parviz Esmaeili said energy is posing as a very important matter in the future.
Referring to steps taken to establish an OPEC gas cartel, Esmaeili said such a cartel will play an important role at the energy market.