Jordan Times
Sunday, May 16, 2004
By staff reporters
DEAD SEA — His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday opened the World Economic Forum asking the international community to make good on its promise of Palestinian statehood."Let the world's leaders demonstrate, once and for all, that they are serious about Palestinian freedom,'' King Abdullah said, his words greeted with a spontaneous ovation by over 1,000 political, business and civil society leaders at the opening of the three-day WEF-Jordan 2004.
Recalling his White House talks 10 days ago, the King said US President George W. Bush reassured him of the US' continued commitment to an independent Palestinian state. "The failure of the international community to help make that commitment a reality will only nurture more division,'' the King warned [see transcript].
International support for regional peace and justice must be matched by equally active support for Arab reform, said the King, who used the WEF's floor to present a "2010 vision'' for Arab reforms.
"The approach I suggest looks forward, not to a remote distant future, but to an attainable new present,'' he said, stressing that the Arab world is in a unique position to forge "a new, consensus-driven vision'' stemming from a comprehensive approach dealing with the region's "core needs: Peace based on justice, progress based on reform.''
A successful plan for Arab reform — a topic dominating not only this WEF meeting, but also the Arab summit later this month and the G-8 Summit in June — must address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the King stressed.
"Quite simply, there is no trust in the region for a blueprint of reform that does not address people's concerns as they see them — including a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.'' A successful reform plan should draw from Islam's age-old humanistic values and tradition, the King noted.
"As we move forward with a regional consensus on reform, we must keep our eyes on the prize: Real and effective improvement in people's lives,'' he said.
In order to succeed, the blueprint for change should include "clear goals, a definite endgame, and practical steps that can be benchmarked, measured and assessed,'' he added.
In an apparent reference to widespread Arab concerns that the US might use next month's G-8 Summit to impose its own reform plan on the region, the King affirmed: "While we do not need outside leadership on the issue of reform, we do hope for international support.”
Jordan has insisted that reforms must be homegrown, if they have to succeed in bringing about tangible prosperity and political development.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to allay Arab fears as he took the podium to deliver a special address at the WEF's opening. "The US does not intend to impose reform on anyone,” Powell stated.
"We couldn't, even if we wanted to.''
The May 22-23 Arab summit is widely expected to endorse a blueprint for reform merging several proposals to push forward gender equality, human rights, judicial reforms, good governance and civil society institutions. Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa seconded the King's call for international support to the Arab reform agenda and his rejection of outside interference in the regional political set-up.
"We want cooperation from the international community. But we reject strategic changes without agreement from the countries in the region,'' Musa told a plenary session on the challenges facing the Middle East.
He highlighted four regional challenges: Palestine, Iraq, modernisation through reform and clash of civilisations. "We should not allow extremists to win the day,'' he said.
The plenary held under the banner "Facing the Real Challenges" also tackled how global leaders and international institutions can meet these challenges and implement reforms in the shadow of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the US-led occupation of Iraq.
"Reform has to be matched with an effort over the peace process," British Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean said during the session which grouped six ministers and officials from several countries.
Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister and Prime Minister's Personal Representative Ichiro Fujisaki, agreed, saying that the reform process should be "as inclusive as possible with many countries involved." Participants from over 50 countries are taking part in the forum, being held under the King's patronage for the second year in a row.
In addition to Arab reform and the Arab-Israeli conflict, the WEF is debating the situation in Iraq and reconstruction efforts, as well as the global business agenda. World Bank President James Wolfensohn, who also took the podium at the opening session after the King and WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab, highlighted what he termed as the region's main needs: Empowerment of the private sector, open society, better education and diversified economies.
Under the theme "Facing the Real Challenges: Partnering for Change, Peace and Development," political, business, religious and cultural leaders have converged at the Dead Sea for this year's WEF-Jordan.
Amongst the corporations represented are Boeing, Nestle, Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Microsoft, Citigroup, Oracle, Bechtel, Fluor, France Telecom, Orascom Telecom Holding, Saudi Oger and BP Amoco.
Organisers expected the number to drop from last year's 1,800 participants, in view of the current unstable situation in the region and the increased security considerations. But officials have stressed that all security measures and precautions to ensure the safety of the delegates were taken.
The meeting has three co-chairs: Alan Boeckman, chairman and CEO of the US' Fluor Corporation, Thierry Breton, chairman and CEO of France Telecom, and Naguib Sawairis, chairman and CEO of Egypt's Orascom Technology.
Of the 1,350 registered participants, some two-thirds are business leaders, while the rest represent governments, academia, civil society and international politics.
In all, participants have converged here from 51 countries. There is strong participation from the US (around 100 participants) and Europe (120).
The King and Jordan's business leaders hosted a soiree last night at the King Hussein Ben Talal Convention Centre on the Dead Sea shore.
The event marked the official inauguration of the new facility.