Tun Musa (middle) and WYN chairman Ebrahim Patel (second right) unveils WIEF’s inaugural alumni network while WIEF Secretary General Tan Sri Ahmad Fuzi, and WIEF managing director Datuk Syed Abu Bakar S Mohsin Almohdzar look on.
KUCHING: The World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation has launched its inaugural alumni network, connecting thousands of its members across the world, in an effort to create a global community of leaders and thinkers who continue to shape businesses, countries and communities into the future.
The network comprises of captains industries and professionals across the diverse sectors of technology Islamic finance, logistics, tourism, halal food, and many other emerging sectors to enable an ‘always on’ collaboration beyond the forum.
“WIEF has existed for 13 years and in the process, we have garnered thousands of participants and members from all over the world, who are repeated attendants of the forum or have attended our subsidiary activities,” said WIEF Foundation chairman Tun Musa Hitam prior to the launch of the new network yesterday.
Through this forum, Tun Musa also expressed his intention to assure that participants and members would stay connected with other participants, members and speakers of the forum.
Over the past 13 editions, the forum has been credited with commercial collaborations worth over US$15.5 billion; it has been pivotal in accelerating the growth of Islamic finance and it has brought world leaders and captains of industries together across Muslim and non-Muslim nations to open up new opportunities in the food, logistics, and tourism industries.
“We call ourselves the WIEF because it is in recognition of the fact that throughout the world, the Muslim umma is one sector that requires a lot of attention from the government sector, private sector, NGOs, and every other institutions.
“Through this forum, we address the sector that are really in need of help. However, we have also garnered non-Muslim participants because we have proven that this forum is the place to go to to conduct business as well. We are also able to identify which are the areas of priority such as education, women, youth, and others,” Tun Musa added.
Reflecting the commitment of the foundation behind the theme ‘Disruptive Change: Impact and Challenges’, WIEF’s inaugural network is aimed at bringing past and current forum attendees together to work throuh the challenges and tap into the opportunities resulting from the wave of disruptive change that will continue to shape the economy and politics.
In addition to the forum, the WIEF organises year-round events to support young leaders, women entrepreneurs and the broader start-up space through its WIEF Leaders Network (WYN), the WIEF Education Trust, and the WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN).
The WIEF alumni network is expected to unite participants of the 13 WIEF editions, members of WYN, and WBN, as well as those who have been part of the foundation’s year-round activities which include highlights like the WIEF Roundtable Series.
“The WIEF alumni network is a dynamic and organic force that we are committed to investing in through more tailored activities and services that we will add on over time, in response to the changing global business and economic environment,” Tun Musa concluded.