About the Forum
The inauguration of the Forum was held in 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, followed by the second Forum in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2006; Kuala Lumpur again in 2007; Kuwait City, Kuwait in 2008; Jakarta, Indonesia in 2009; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2010; Astana, Kazakhstan in 2011; Johor Bahru, Malaysia in 2012; London, United Kingdom in 2013; Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2014 and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2015.
Renowned worldwide as a yearly gathering for world leaders and top CEOs, the WIEF is also regarded as an SME-centric platform, attracting thousands of small and medium businesses from around the world. The WIEF continues to make inroads into new territories, shedding light on new business opportunities in and around the Muslim world.
Throughout the years, participation has steadily grown from a mere 600 delegates within the Asian region in 2005, to more than 4,000 delegates worldwide, at our most recent Forums.
The WIEF shall continue to make an impact on the global business landscape, addressing the pressing issues of the day, and will constantly strive towards building bridges between all nations and communities, through business.
Overview
The 12th WIEF in Jakarta will look into the theme of decentralisation of growth, namely in acknowledging the urgent role of small and medium businesses in driving economic growth in national economies around the world, away from the previous dominance of big multinationals, which represent only a small portion of the business community of any particular country.
Decentralisation of growth towards empowering small and medium business sectors is pivotal to ensure the participation of a larger number of the population in mainstream economy. The outcome is inescapable – a resilient domestic sector, and a strong globally competitive economy. In a world led by cutting-edge technology, the only way economies can survive is to embrace change and empower future businesses to chart the business landscape of tomorrow.
Theme
Decentralising Growth, Empowering Future Business
