The tweet above, posted last week by Telegraph journalist Andrew Critchlow, points to an article on the Telegraph's website which begins:

"International investors will have an important role to play in nurturing economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa, while helping in the fight against extremists in the region, a senior diplomat has said. 

"Following the recent announcement that Telegraph Media Group will host a Middle East Congress in London next year to bring together key decision makers from the region with business leaders and investors in the UK, Nabil Ammar, Tunisia’s Ambassador to Britain said: 'The struggle against extremism is also about the struggle for better economies, education and prosperity across the whole region. International investors have an important role to play'."

The two-day Middle East Congress, which is due to be held in London next February and will cost £1,599 (plus VAT) to attend, is being organised by the Telegraph Media Group with backing from the Mayor of London and the British Foreign Office. It is sponsored by the international law firm Eversheds and other "partners" and "supporters" include Thomson Reuters, the Emirati newspaper The National, and the Arab Bankers Association.

The event is being promoted as an opportunity for investors to do something useful with their money by helping to combat extremism, reduce economic inequalities and facilitate political change. The brochure says:

"Creating economic development and growth across the Middle East is one of the major challenges for global policy makers over the next decade. Regional economic inequalities between the wealth generating, high-growth economies of the Gulf and the broader Arab world in North Africa and the Levant have multiplied since the end [sic] of the Arab Spring.

"A new roadmap now needs to be drawn to restart economic liberalisation, growth and boost prosperity in the countries worst affected by recent political upheavals such as Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen."

(I seem to have missed the "recent political upheavals" in Jordan and Morocco, but let's not worry about that for now.)

History, the brochure continues, has shown that "investment in world-class infrastructure, technology, energy, tourism and education can play a critical factor in supporting the political process of change across the Middle East" and adds:

"The Telegraph Middle East Congress will bring together business leaders and key figures from both the UK and Middle Eastern governments in London to discuss these issues and explore how the Gulf states and the international community can nurture an economic revival across the region."

Mention of the Gulf states, plus Egypt, is where the conference starts to look less like an exercise in socially-responsible investment and more like the familiar grubby business of trading with dictators.

Although representatives have been invited from Tunisia, Morocco and Yemen, the first day's session has keynote speakers from the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Keynote speakers on the second day are from the governments of Iraq and Egypt.

This raises the question of whether the conference can actually do what it claims. It seems very odd to talk about using investment to combat extremism – and then invite speakers from the most religiously extreme government in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) and the new military regime in Egypt to set the tone. 

Readers may wish to discuss this further on Twitter, using the hasthtag #TelegraphMEC.