Kazakhstan, Astana, June 7 / Trend A.Maratov /
Astana opened the seventh World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) on Tuesday.
The WIEF theme is "Globalising Growth: Connect, Compete, Collaborate" in a bid to mobilize the Muslim and non-Muslim nations towards greater economic independence through open channels of communication and strategic cross-border partnerships.
The Seventh WIEF will be preceded by the Businesswomen and Young Leaders Forums, which will officially open together with the WIEF Exhibition by Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov.
The Seventh WIEF will feature Forum highlights including the leadership Panel to discuss entrepreneurship as a vehicle of growth, a signature 'Countries in Focus' Session showcasing business, trade and investment opportunities in developing OIC countries and Parallel Sessions covering Islamic banking, infrastructure development, SMEs ecosystem and alternative energy.
The event is first held in Central Asia.
More than 150 prominent Kazakh and foreign speakers will attend the forum, while the total number of participants is roughly 2,000 people. President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh, Vice President of Indonesia Boediono, Prime Ministers Najib Razak of Malaysia, Akil Akilov of Tajikistan, Vice Premiers Roz Nouri Shawis of Iraq, Omurbek Babanov of Kyrgyzstan, IDB President Ahmed Mohammed Ali, ex-Premiers of Lebanon, Pakistan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Ministers of Finance of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Economic Affairs Ministers of UAE, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan will attend the Forum this year.
The WIFE, the main annual economic summit of OIC member states and the so-called "Islamic Davos", was first held on Oct.1-3, 2005, in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) under the motto "Forging New Alliances for Development and Progress".
The WIEF working body is the Secretariat, which meets twice a year. The Secretariat headquarters is located in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).