Indonesia will host the World Islamic Economic Conference (WIEF) in Jakarta from March 1 to March 4, 2009, said the chief organizer here quoted by the national Antara News Agency Friday.
Irman Gusman, chairman of the WIEF Steering Committee and also Deputy Chairman of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), said Thursday the WIEF will focus on food security, energy and bottom line business handling of financial crisis.
"This forum is of vitally importance because Islamic countries, particularly those in the Middle East, are no longer backward," Irman Gusman said.
He said that Indonesia is expected to take advantage of the Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF), which is a funding facility with 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars deposited by countries in the Middle East as surplus funds amounting. Therefore, the country will request the owners of the surplus funds to invest in Indonesia.
According to Gusman, at present, China, India and the Middle East were leading the front line in settling the global economic problem. "We can take the advantage of the Beijing-Dubai-New Delhi axis. Here lies our future," he said.