Muslim countries should focus on SMEs development - Chairman of 7th WIEF Foundation Tun Musa Hitam
"This is the seventh time when the World Islamic Economic Forum is going to have its annual gathering. The first one was held in 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia .Since then we have held conferences in different parts of the world, particularly, in Pakistan, Indonesia and Kuwait. The World Islamic Economic Forum started actually during the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Kuala Lumpur. The OIC which Kazakhstan is going to preside in was a gathering of heads of government from the Islamic countries belonging to the Organization. Those days, seven years ago, various workshops and seminars on economic affairs took place. Since that time the economic-related subjects were separated from the OIC discussions and the World Islamic Economic forum became completely independent of the Organization itself", Tun Musa Hitam said.
What can you say about the topic of the forthcoming Forum? How are the business communities of Muslim countries interested in Kazakhstan?
Kazakhstan is very important for us. It is symbolic that this country huge in size and small in population, rich in natural resources will host the 7th WIEF. Kazakhstan is interested in investments and overall economic development. By having this annual forum in Astana the world will have an opportunity to know Kazakhstan at first hand and the delegates and business people coming here will learn more about the opportunities that Kazakhstan provides in investment collaboration and in all matters related to business and development. The wealth of this country, as noted by the authorities of Kazakhstan, needs to be expanded, and Kazakhstan emphasizes that this 7th WIEF should focus on energy and food security issues. Besides, it has been emphasized to me again and again during the meetings with the Kazakh officials that Kazakhstan has so much land for agriculture, and the natural resources sector also needs to be developed. Kazakhstan is the country located in the centre of the CIS space; it has good contacts with such countries as China, Russia and others. The opportunities of for bilateral and multilateral relations development are very good.
How many people are expected to arrive for the Forum? Could you tell, please, about the organization of the WIEF?
On the first day of the Forum there will be a meeting of the heads of government who will deliver speeches and express their views on further economic development and business opportunities. The heads of government have been invited by the Kazakh Government. The opening ceremony will be conducted by the President of Kazakhstan which will be followed by the speeches of the heads of government. After then a business part of the Forum will be organized. This forum will be attended by the former leaders of different countries who will discuss the urgent issues of economic development and business opportunities as well as will share their experience. The second and the third days of the Forum will be devoted to business people's sessions. I would like to assure you that this will be a very enthusiastic part of the conference. The participants of the business forum will talk the same language, they will understand each other, and they will be able to identify the possibilities to do business in different parts of the world. In terms of presence we expect about 1, 000 - 1, 500 participants from Muslim and non-Muslim countries. In the past our Forum was attended by Scandinavian, European, African countries, Russia, even by the United States, and some other countries of this region. In terms of subject, I would like to highlight that this is a strictly economic forum. It is neither religious nor political event. We stress this because we do believe that it is economics that determines success of any government, any country. We give top priority to the issues related to economics and business.
What about the special sessions for women and youth?
A day before the main forum, on the 7th of June, there will be special sessions for young entrepreneurs and women. It is our tradition. These sessions will be run simultaneously. And again I assure you that in each one of the past forums these events attracted many attendants and the discussions were very active. The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan kindly agreed to launch these sessions. For the women there will be some interesting programs including workshops for discussing various business models. They will spend about 10-14 days and listen to the experts who will give lectures on how to start small and medium businesses and launch new enterprises. These sessions were attended in the past by the representatives from Indonesia, Bangladesh and African countries, Iran, Yemen. At the last event we had 200 applications received through our website.
As for the youth, a showcase of culture entitled "Marketplace for Creative Arts" will be organized in Kazakhstan. For the first time you will see the young men and women brought from the different parts of the world including Southeast Asia who will showcase their own creativity in the arts, painting, music, sculpture, filmmaking etc. They will be involved in discussions and they will be able to demonstrate their talent. And this initiative was very warmly received. Lots of young people sent their applications to participate in it. The first such event was held in Kuala Lumpur; recently it took place in Singapore, and we plan to hold it in Astana. We hope that in the coming years it will be a major activity related to youth, boys and girls, who come with their own ideas and want to showcase them. It is very interesting and very exciting! Even to me, because I witnessed them myself! The significance of this initiative is that when we say the word "Islam" people have wrong perceptions which mean everything bad. And we would like to say that by organizing such events we empower the youth in the field of culture, we encourage them in this direction. Astana is preparing for this activity and we want to see it organized better than in the past.
What other activities will be organized within the Forum?
On June 7 a special session called "Country in Focus" will take place. Kazakhstan will have its own session for those interested in investment and business opportunities. Other countries will also do the same things. They will be provided an opportunity to demonstrate their attractiveness in investments and business. By June we will know which countries will offer their sessions. It will be open to everybody who would like to know more about these countries. These sessions provide one more chance for any country to propagate its investment and business potential.
How effective is the World Islamic Economic Forum in bringing about the changes in the Muslim world?
We actually do not have record to give you statistical data. But in terms of results, it is something which obviously will have to be measured by the sort of business opportunities it provides. We believe that when business people get together they make profit in their business and this is very important. They contribute, I believe hopefully, in terms of taxation, in creating new job positions. So, they benefit from the Forum, but this benefit is not measured in statistics. At the informal level we let business people make decisions and pursue the business opportunities themselves. At the more formal level we sign the memos of understanding, various agreements between the enterprises and governments, between different countries or business.
Are there any particular areas that the Muslim countries should focus on?
These are economic development and business opportunities. The more business opportunities are the higher the rate of development is. The World Islamic Economic Forum is very important. We recognize that the Muslim countries have been left far behind. We must start encouraging and facilitating them and giving them a chance to find themselves in business. And the World Islamic Economic Forum starts from small and medium businesses. We do know that the world has a few such economic forums. The Davos Forum represents western business people, elite type of people, doing big business. As for us, we focus also on small and medium businesses. In whole our countries should stimulate economic activity which will lead to increase in living standards, government revenues. Finally, this will lead to living standards increase in Muslim communities.
What are the prospects of development of Kazakhstan-Malaysia relations?
As a Malaysian I see huge potential for boosting our relationships. We have direct flights between our countries. We got thousands of Kazakh students studying in our country. At a meeting with one of your authorities I stressed the importance of people-to-people contacts. The tourism potential of Kazakhstan and tourism potential of Malaysia is very high, because we have different cultures, different climate conditions. To my mind, we should develop our collaboration in this direction.
Why was namely Astana chosen as the venue of the 7th World Islamic Economic Forum?
The first reason is that we always try to expand the geography of our Forum. Secondly, we have many countries which submit their applications to host the WIEF. After receiving these applications, we consider how serious they are and their strategic importance. Two years ago a delegation of Kazakhstan arrived in Jeddah and proposed to host the Forum. We have the International Advisory Panel consisting of 17 members from various countries like Australia, African and European countries which meets twice a year. At one of our meetings we discussed the information and maps provided by the Kazakh side. I can say that these materials made a great impression on us that is why we agreed to allow Kazakhstan holding the Forum. One more reason is that, frankly speaking, we had little information about your country. It sounds exotic, it sounds too difficult to learn. We knew that this is the country located in the centre of the CIS space. When we considered Kazakhstan's application, we appreciated the country's aspiration to attract investments, develop its economy. Now the businessmen will have an opportunity to know more about Kazakhstan.
How can Kazakhstan contribute to the development of Muslim countries?
To begin with, Kazakhstan is one of the few Islamic countries rich in natural resources, huge in an area, small in population. And the world is interested in the products manufactured in Kazakhstan, for example, production and export of wheat. Recently Kazakhstan and some Southeast Asian countries have entered into agreements to buy wheat. As a result, you export it to China, and China exports it to Southeast Asia. That is one contribution. You have energy resources and minerals. Many of the countries of Southeast Asia need these products which can be exported raw or as final products. In order to do that, you have to open joint ventures with other Muslim countries. And this is one aspect when other countries come to Kazakhstan. Also, with your own wealth you can do your own business and come to our countries. Thus, Muslim countries are interested in development of cooperation with Kazakhstan in both directions and such cooperation will be fruitful for all participants of this process. Trade, investments, production and industrialization - these are the most beneficial sectors for all participating countries.
Thank you!