JEDDAH: A delegation of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry is heading for the fifth World Islamic Economic Forum being held in Jakarta from March 1-5. JCCI Vice Chairman Mazen Batterjee is leading the delegation to the forum, which will focus attention on Islamic banking and finance as an alternative model in the context of the prevailing world economic crisis, according to Indonesian Consul Cahyono Rustam.
Aside from Indonesian President Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Countries; Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, prime minister of Malaysia and patron of WIEF Foundation; and Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, crown prince and deputy ruler of Ras Al-Khaimah will be among the participants.
“The forum is expected to answer questions related to the collapse of major Wall Street institutions, notably Lehman Brothers, and the subsequent global financial crisis and economic recession that is encouraging economists worldwide to consider alternative financial solutions,” the consul told Arab News yesterday. What lessons can be learned, and how resilient have Islamic banks been during the current crisis will be among the major subjects of the forum whose theme is “Food and energy security, and stemming the tide of global financial crisis.”
The fifth edition of the forum is a continuation of past forums and will address wide-ranging issues by experts and leaders from around the world. Issues on basic necessities, energy, technology, and the business of sustainable environment, global small and medium enterprises and banking will be deliberated during the event.
WIEF Businesswoman Forum and WIEF Young Leaders Forum will be held prior to the World Islamic Economic Forum on March 1, 2009.
The inaugural forum was held in Kuala Lumpur in October 2005 attended by more than 500 participants from more than 44 Muslim and non-Muslim countries consisting of representatives from the business, government and academic sectors. The second forum was held in Islamabad in November 2006, the third in Kuala Lumpur in May 2007, and the fourth in Kuwait in May 2008.
Driven by the objective of promoting trade and technical and economic cooperation between the Kingdom and Indonesia, the JCCI and the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a memorandum of understanding in Jakarta last month. Economic ties between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have seen a steady growth especially after the setting up of the Saudi-Indonesian Economic and Technical Joint Committee, Rustam said.