The Arab world has immense potential to become one of the most competitive regions in the world and innovation will be the key to harness this latent creative energy, talent and financial resources to drive success, achievements and recognition on the global platform. This was disclosed at one of the meetings at the ongoing 2008 World Summit of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (WSIE) in Dubai. In his opening remarks at the debate focusing on “Innovation for Peace - Achieving Greatness, Transforming Societies,” Sam Hamdan - chairman and chief strategist of the Global Leadership Team and Architect of WSIE, said: “The future of the Arab world belongs to the present majority of the youth population. Innovation has a strong potential to achieve tangible social and spiritual transformation to break the veils of poverty, extremism and conflict.” Urging world leaders to commit to solutions that empower young Arab leaders with the knowledge, the resources and the policy environment needed for their successful future, he said: “Two million children die each year for a glass of clean water in Africa. When we are talking about thousands of Iraqi children who do not have access to quality medication whereas they are sitting on one of the largest oil reserves, we are compelled to ask - where is the moral order? The need of the hour, I believe, is that the role of innovation has to be improved because the entire future of the Arab world depends on this.” Fatima Al-Balushi, minister of Social Development in Bahrain, talking about the kingdom's collaboration with the private sector to empower people, said: “We have successfully epitomized the concept of micro-entrepreneurship - the first of its kind in the region, in close partnership with the government and private sector, which has transformed the lives of the needy and poor sections in the county. Poverty is a state of mind and it is imperative that the mindset has to be changed,” she said. Voicing the vital role played by the corporate sector to global peace, Dan Shine, vice-president of 50X15 Initiative from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., said the mindset toward corporate social responsibility has changed over the last 6-7 years. “The movement toward the CSR initiatives is positive and corporates are seeing its pivotal role in the long-term business strategy. This is very important to demonstrate that the private-public partnership would lead to better prosperity and peace,” he said. Talking about the need of innovative social movement for global peace, Neil Turok, chairman of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, said it is necessary that Africa should find its place of pride in the global innovation milieu. “I want to see Africa make leading contribution to science, which will lead to a spin-off in creating innovative ventures across the region,” he said. Ashok Soota, founder and chairman of Mindtree, said private sector could be a huge driving force for innovation and peace, by marrying its business objectives with social objectives. Dr. Vincent Biruta, president of the Senate/Parliament of Rwanda, said it is necessary to look beyond the ordinary and benefit from these applications across the private and public participation. Icon Rives, a well-known multimedia poet and artist, felt that entertainment has its own value in innovating and uniting people on a common platform. Marc Yu, pianist prodigy, felt that music as a language has the ability to break cultural and communications barriers. Organized under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai, the 2008 WSIE being held at Jumeirah Beach Hotel till Thursday (today) has brought together over 800 delegates from all walks of life. __
