The Council’s mission is to be committed to reinforcing and enhancing competitiveness in the Arab region by focusing on cooperating with the region’s governments and organizations towards the development of economic policies; reinforcing the voice of Arab business leaders in the international community, specifically on issues affecting the region’s socio-economic and development agenda;and serving as the advisory body to the World Economic Forum on its Arab world strategy.

The ABC realizes that the Arab world today stands at a very critical juncture. Sustaining the status quo will only widen the development gap between this region and the developed world – not to mention the growing number of developing countries and regional blocs that are taking rapid measure to integrate into the global economy. This has been identified and reaffirmed by a number of studies, the most recent of which include the UNDP Arab Human Development Report and The Arab World Competitiveness Report.
The ABC aims to galvanize the Arab private sector to play a key role in partnership with governments to enhance the Arab world's competitiveness and the region’s potential. The Council initiated constructive dialogue with several Arab governments to support its business-government partnership initiative. Several meetings were held with key Arab leaders who encouraged the goals and objectives of the Council. Government ministers were appointed in Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to act as the focal point between the government and the ABC.

In supporting its business-government initiative, the ABC identified economic reform priorities based on an open channel of communication between government, the business community and civil society. The Council developed the following specific reform measures that are suggested to be undertaken by governments and civil society in the Arab world in order to realize the full potential of the region and propel growth to higher and sustainable levels. These reforms fall into three categories: Economic Liberalization and Reform, Governance, and Human Resource Development. Full details of the ABC vision for these areas of reform can be found on our website at www.weforum.org/abc.