The potential of opportunities in the Islamic world will multiply as the Islamic world moves towards improving its share of world production from around 6 percent of global GDP to 20 percent in line with its demographic position.
"This will happen and in the process the lives of the Islamic people will reap enormous benefits," said Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Salman Shah while addressing the closing ceremony of the 3-day 2nd World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) here at Jinnah Convention Centre on Tuesday.
Dato, Dr Michael Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, World Islamic Economic Forum and Tun Musa Hitam Chairman, World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Dato Dr Norraesah Mohmad Chairperson World Islamic Businesswomen Network, WIEF also spoke on the occasion.
Dr Salman Shah said "We recognise the outstanding presentations, discussions, contributions and interaction between the opinion leaders and elite of the Muslim World which Islamabad was privileged to host during the past three days."
The Islamic World, he said is beset with many challenges, not the least among them is the onerous challenge of channelising the boundless energies which Islam instils in its followers towards enterprises and activities which improve the well being of the Ummah.
He added that from this perspective the focus on "Unleashing the potential of emerging markets" was very appropriate and timely.
Dr Salman said that the agenda for the future stemmed naturally from the first session of the World Islamic Forum held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this agenda was further refined and spelt out in the opening plenary session of the Islamabad forum.
He said that President Musharraf's call for reforms of the Islamic organisations, development of our industrial potential, Prime minister Badawi's focus on giving an economic focus to the activities of the OIC and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz vision of an Islamic Economic Union. "All these perspectives will bring together a unity of trade, Investment, economic and political co-operation initiatives within the Islamic world and which will serve as the engine of growth of the Islamic world that will bring peace and prosperity for our children and the world at large," he remarked.
Dr expressed the hope that deliberations of the forum will act as the launching pad of initiatives that will galvanise the latent energies of the
Muslim World and would further synergise them with the broader potential of the emerging markets.
He observed that as emerging markets organise themselves to capture their rightful place in the world economy, they have to compete with and benefit from co-operation with the well entrenched institutions of the developed world, who have during the past many decades captured vital competitive advantage and economies of scale.
This, he said will require implementation of a conceited strategic action plan to improve our institutions and companies both in the public and the private sectors on a grand scale.
Dr Salman said that although many emerging markets have done exceedingly well, and countries like Malaysia abundantly demonstrate the progress that can be made by Muslim countries based on developing their human resources.
He said the challenge that lies before "us is to accelerate the process of integration and mutual co-operation that could help establish our own competitive advantages and economies of scale."
He said the biggest contribution of the second Session World Islamic Forum, in which we have participated, is that it has very successfully taken off from the good work done during the earlier meetings and has added newer dimensions to our collaboration and partnership.
He said "While we measure most of our achievements in material terms, the defining thrust comes from the world of ideas." This, he said was the underlying message of Islam when it introduced the concept of Muslim brotherhood that cut across the confines of colour, social status or geographic origin.
The discussion in which distinguished panelists included the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, as also the Prime Minister of Malaysia, brought out in precise terms the 'Challenges for Muslim leadership in a globalised world' and issues and solutions relating to improving our image on a global scale. He added that this will have an enduring influence on our future strategies.
Dr Salman Shah said that it was extremely thoughtful of the organisers to include in the agenda Roundtables for Muslim Women and Young Entrepreneurs.
He said that the underlying theme of 'Business beyond borders' was explored through an in-depth of entrepreneurship in a global market place and issues involved in energy, infrastructure development, Investments, Tourism, as areas of top priority for the Muslim World and the leveraging of the global supply chain for own development.
The Forum , he said brought together heads of governments, top business leaders, political elite, entrepreneurs, academia, intelligentsia and the civil society, a lot of useful activity took place on the sidelines of the formal sessions.
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