Network serves to connect captains of industry and professionals across the diverse sectors of technology, Islamic finance, logistics, tourism and halal food
Sarawak, Malaysia, 22 November: WIEF today announced its inaugural alumni network, connecting 17,000 WIEF alumni members across its 13 editions in an effort to create a global community of leaders and thinkers who continue to shape businesses, countries and communities into the future. The network comprises captains of industry and professionals across the diverse sectors of technology, Islamic finance, logistics, tourism, halal food and many other emerging sectors to enable always-on collaboration beyond the Forum.
Reflecting the commitment of the Foundation behind the theme ‘Disruptive Change: Impact and Challenges’, WIEF’s inaugural network is aimed at bringing past and current Forum attendees together to work through the challenges and tap into the opportunities resulting from the wave of disruptive change that will continue to shape the economy and politics.
“The WIEF alumni is a yet untapped source of innovation and opportunity. By bringing together 17,000 alumni members from 150 countries, we are harnessing the aggregate power of our members – the organisations and industries they represent, their intellectual currency and their positive contributions. This goes beyond networking to always-on collaboration and the potential of finding new connections between seemingly unrelated industries to create new solutions and products,” said Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation.
Over the past 13 editions, the Forum has been credited with commercial collaborations worth over US$15.5 billion; it has been pivotal in accelerating the growth of Islamic finance; it has brought world leaders and captains of industry together across Muslim and non-Muslim nations to open up new opportunities in the food, logistics and tourism industries.
Added to this, the World Islamic Economic Foundation organises year-round events to support young leaders, women entrepreneurs and the broader startup space through its WIEF Young Leaders Network (WYN), the WIEF Education Trust and the WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN). As such, the WIEF alumni network will unite participants of the 13 WIEF editions, members of WYN and WBN, as well as those who have been a part of the Foundation’s year-round activities, which include highlights like the WIEF Roundtable Series.
The WIEF alumni network enables members to connect to any alumni in any part of the world – oceans away or just in the vicinity, alumni by-sector, and will have greater access to WIEF’s ongoing activities and member-exclusive privileges and promotions for all WIEF events via an app tailored for this network.
“The WIEF alumni network is a dynamic and organic force that we are committed to investing in through more tailored activities and services that we will add on over time, in response to the changing global business and economic environment,” Tun Musa Hitam continued.
For more information on WIEF, please visit www.wief.org.
About the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation
The WIEF Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Kuala Lumpur, organises the annual World Islamic Economic Forum, a world-class business platform showcasing business opportunities in the Muslim world, and runs programmes of the various initiatives of the Foundation that strengthen people partnership and knowledge exchange between Muslim and non-Muslim communities across the globe.
The WIEF has previously held forums in Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates and aims to bring together Muslim and non-Muslim communities through the common language of business.
The 13th World Islamic Economic Forum is held at Borneo Convention Centre, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from 21 – 23 November 2017.
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