The third World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), a platform to explore business initiatives and cooperation among Muslim nations and between Muslims and non-Muslims, was announced yesterday (February 20, 2007) at press conference held at the Fairmont Hotel in Dubai. The WIEF will gather prominent personalities in government, business and the academia to discuss issues concerning Muslim identity, economic potential of the Muslim World, and stability and progress of Islamic nations at the PWTC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 27-29 2007.
Speaking at the press conference, Dr. Dato Michael Yeoh, CEO, WIEF Foundation and Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI), said, “The success of the WIEF underscores the need for cooperation and understanding to attain economic success. With the Muslim business community emerging as a global force in various industry sectors, it is important that this momentum is given a clear-cut direction that will promote peace in general, and the interest of developing Muslim countries. The WIEF is an ideal venue to achieve this vision, where global leaders and leading thinkers meet to discuss and devise ways to align economic initiatives with social issues to support sustainable development.”
The Forum seeks to define the Muslim World’s role in a globalized economy, and transform this knowledge into initiatives that promote sustainable development anchored on strategic partnerships between countries and regions regardless of denomination. For the third edition, WIEF will take a closer look at the fast emerging economies of China and India, which both have large Muslim minorities.
“The WIEF will be a venue to develop strategies for collaboration, finding ways to bolster economic partnerships with the West as well as the growing markets in China and India. China and India’s rapidly developing industries find increasing reliance to the Muslim World’s vast resources such as petroleum and edible oil. WIEF will provide the platform for Muslim countries to effectively capitalise on the new business opportunities offered by emerging markets,” said Syed Abu Bakar, Trustee, WIEF.
WIEF has also leveraged its influence and extensive network to harness the potential of different segments of the society. During its inaugural forum in Malaysia in 2005, the WIEF established the World Islamic Businesswomen Network (WIBN) and the World Islamic Education Task Force (WIET), while the second edition in Islamabad, Pakistan last year stressed on cultivating young entrepreneurs through the creation of the WIEF Young Muslim Leaders Forum, which will be a regular event in conjunction with the WIEF.
“The energetic participation of Muslim states in the WIEF indicates their strong commitment to adopt peaceful means to achieve progress. This commitment is also manifested by the rising number of cross-border alliances between Muslim and non-Muslim countries to achieve mutual economic progress. WIEF is honoured to have helped forge many of these partnerships through its different programmes and the leverage it gains from its members,” said Jean Wong, CEO and Senior Vice President, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute, which co-organized the event.
The WIEF, held annually and hosted alternately by the Malaysian Government and another country, is organised by the WIEF Foundation and co-organised by ASLI in association with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade.
“WIEF 2007 aims to tackle the need for innovation and to accelerate trade and investments within and beyond Muslim countries. The underlying theme for this year's event is leveraging knowledge and education and unlocking creativity across the spectrum of government, business and job creation for the betterment of the Muslim global community,” said Shuckri Bundakji, Managing Director of DSL Exhibitions and Regional Director of WIEF.
Aside from the Forum, the WIEF Foundation also organizes regional meetings in Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas to foster inter-denomination dialogues and cultivate the interest of Muslim entrepreneurs in non-Muslim countries.
