JEDDAH: How to avert a new cold war will be on top of the agenda for the 27th session of the Council for International Understanding (CIU), which opens at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Rabigh on Monday. About 28 present and former heads of state will attend the four-day event, in addition to some 200 Saudi and other delegates including political, intellectual and business leaders.
Organizers said the conference would also discuss how to ensure adequate energy supplies and boost world economic growth. It would also review the resolutions taken in the previous session. Speakers include Helmut Schmidt, former German chancellor; former Swedish Premier Ingvar Carlson; former Canadian Prime Minister Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien; former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Andreas Antonius Maria; former Indonesian President Bacharuddin Habibie; and former Jordanian Prime Minister Abdussalam Al-Majali.
“The decision taken by the council to hold its next conference in Saudi Arabia reflects the Kingdom’s leading role in the economic world,” said Amr Al-Dabbagh, SAGIA governor.