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Connect Muslim countries through business

WIEF roundtable stresses regional cooperation

Star Business Report
A two-day roundtable of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation began yesterday in the capital with a call for expansion of trade and business through deeper coordination and collaboration in Muslim countries.
Forest and Environment Minister Hasan Mahmud opened the event where businesses and academicians from home and abroad discussed three issues.
The issues are: regional cooperation to combat climate change, Islamic microfinance as a means of alleviating poverty and regional cooperation to build world-class private higher educational institutions.
“Cooperation and coordination among the private sectors in the Muslim countries is essential for the betterment of the people of the Muslim world,” said Mahmud. "We need to build better coordination and collaboration.''
The WIEF Foundation in Malaysia and South East Asian Cooperation Foundation (SEACO) in Bangladesh co-organised the event in collaboration with the Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs, Bangladesh Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the High Commission of Malaysia in Dhaka.
Fifteen local and international organisations, including firms from Malaysia, attended the fifth roundtable of WIFE
The WIEF was launched in 2005 to promote business and encourage profits that will eventually flow down to the much-neglected people in the Muslim world.
The WIEF held four roundtables earlier in Bahrain, Turkey, Russia and South Africa.
“We feel that it is timely to hold it in Dhaka as a way of widening our reach and network and for the benefit of a wider audience in South Asia," said Tun Musa Hitam, chairman of WIEF Foundation, at the opening of the show at Radisson Hotel.
Um Musa, also a former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, praised Bangladesh for its progress and development since its
independence.
"Negative stories regarding Bangladesh do not exist today. Because, you have very good growth rate," said Tun Musa, citing Bangladesh's around 7 percent annual economic growth rate.
He, however, said the Muslim world continues to face numerous challenges today, and the much-publicised negative image currently associated with the Muslim world is like whipping a dead horse.
"We are literarily at the lowest ebb of the cycle,” he said, adding that there is very little hope of the return of the glory of Islam in the modern world due to the prevalence of pessimism and a gloomy outlook in general.
"We are seen to be still crawling when others are already way ahead of us," he said.
"No Muslim country can claim to be a developed country, notwithstanding some measure of economic progress achieved by some individual Muslim countries.”
“Collectively we are in no position to play a leading role in the world politically, economically, technologically or militarily,” Tun Musa said.
“To many of us, the future can
be bleak indeed.” He is not entirely pessimistic, though.
“Our aim at the WIEF Foundation is to do something positive for the Ummah," Tun Musa said.
He said the forum aims to provide a platform for interactive dialogues and networking on relevant economic issues of concerns to the Muslim countries.
The WIEF wants to build bridges through businesses by promoting concrete business deals.
The forum also intends to provide space and opportunities for women and the young to develop their talents and potential to be successful entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Tun Musa said the WIEF made steady progress since its first summit in 2005 and it is making a positive impact.
He said the forum is making its presence felt and getting recognised as a credible business and economic related global platform.
In his speech, Mahmud said Bangladesh made tremendous progress due to the ability and willingness of the people, despite having difficulties such as natural calamities and political instability.
“Malaysia is an example for
Bangladesh to follow," he said, adding that Bangladesh aims to develop its economy like Malaysia.
Mahmud expected that collaboration and coordination between governments and private sectors will bring better results for the countries.
Noting the impact of climate change on Bangladesh, he said: "We are the worst affected and all negative impacts are visible." Sea level rise and salinity intrusion are not threats, these are reality for Bangladesh, he said.
He called upon all the countries to combat the negative impact of climate change together.
"Indeed we all are affected by climate change." Bangladesh may be the first victim, but other countries will also feel its negative impact, he said.
"We all are the passengers of the same planet. So to salvage this planet for the very existence of humanity, better coordination is needed," said Mahmud.
Salahuddin Kasem Khan, chairman of the roundtable organising committee in Bangladesh and member of the international advisory panel of WIEF Foundation, also spoke.