Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim.
Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.
Excellency, President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Excellencies, participating Heads of Governments and government leaders, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the 5th World Islamic Economic Forum Organizing Committee, it is with great pleasure to welcome our distinguished delegates to this prestigious Forum aimed to promote the business enterprises within the Muslim world, and between the Muslims and the non-Muslim world.
This morning, I am proud to report that based on our latest registration acceptance, total attendance of this forum is reaching the record of 1,557 participants, consisting of 1,395 delegates, 85 speakers and 77 leaders of corporate partners from 36 countries, and we are honored to host the attendance of 12 heads of government and senior government ministers from the participating countries.
As warm up to the main forum, the 5th WIEF began yesterday with a PreForum which consisted of Business Women Forum with the theme of “Woman Entrepreneurs: The Driving Force Towards a Stronger Future” and Young Leaders Forum with the theme of “The Leadership Imperative: Towards a Good Succession Plan”.
The main Forum, to be held today and tomorrow, focuses on the theme “Food and Energy Security: Stemming the Tide of Global Financial Crisis”.
Indonesia is proud to be the host of this Forum for the first time, and has based the forum on the existing accomplished formats of the previous World Islamic Economic Forums, and made some enhancements by incorporating a Global CEO Panel in the Main Forum and a Post Forum program focusing on Indonesia. The Global CEO Panel is scheduled immediately after the existing Leadership Panel to highlight from a business perspective the detailed understanding of the present economic development, pressing issues and potential resolutions following the Leadership Panel in which the Heads of government and officials impart their wealth of experience in world economy from a governmental and public policy point of view.
Following this Official Opening Ceremony, the visible and concrete outcome of such collaborations in the Forum’s economic enterprises will be showcased through the signing of the Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) relating to bilateral or multilateral actionable investments, with a total value exceeding 3 billion USD.
We also hope that participants will take advantage of the interactions in the forum by pursuing other potential business relations which would hopefully be concluded after this Forum event.
A final addition to the 5th World Islamic Economic Forum is the Post Forum.
This Forum will focus on specific regional investment interests and tourism by raising awareness of Indonesia’s natural beauty. This is excellently reflected in the Post Forum’s theme “Indonesia in Focus”
It is with great hope that the overall Program of the 5th World Islamic Economic Forum: the Pre-Forum, the Main Forum and the Post Forum – will build further the existing economic and business developments including stronger and more robust cooperation between the business communities attending the Forum, especially through the excellent global networking opportunities at the Forum.
As co-chairman of 5th World Islamic Economic Forum, I would like to thank all the stakeholders of the event: the corporate partners, the National WIEF Committee as well as the WIEF Foundation, and others who have shared their wisdom, experiences and assistance in the preparation of this event.
Thank you,
Wassalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.