Session One (Part 1) - From the House to the World

ThamerAl-Haddad, Chief Editor
Noufal, Diaa, Ahmed, Fahad, Contributing Editor

At last, it’s the 24th of February and the 2008 JEF has finally kicked off, right here in Jeddah, with a sunny clear sky covering our beautiful city of Jeddah.

For me this is my first time attending the Jeddah Economical Forum, and it has really turned out to be just as exciting as I thought it would be. There are plenty of celebrities, entrepreneurs and leaders from all over the world.

Once we got through the high security we were able to engage with others for a bit of chit chat in the exhibition area, everyone grabbed a cup of tea and headed into the main hall for the start of the forum.

Minutes before the introduction, you could feel the vibe as the energy level and people began filling up the hall. The session started with Dr. Haris Silajdžić, the president of Bosnia. He addressed the issue that all of the nations should avoid what is called “Cultural Wars” (conflict between people based upon their cultures and beliefs which can sometimes be violent in nature).

Following Dr. Harris was HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal. I really admired a lot of his comments as I found them not only very interesting but intriguing. HRH emphasized the importance of partnerships and alliances. Citing an example from astrologers who have a high cooperation among their group, this reminded him of a saying that goes – “There is no one nation from where the whole sky can be seen”. To me this means that we have to stand together to achieve our goals.

He also commented on the diversification of Saudi Arabia from just depending on oil to expanding to other areas. In closing his speech he mentioned that Saudi Arabia is truly open for business after joining the world trade organization.

What I also noticed from the President of Bosnia and the Prime Minister of Palestine is that they both talked about their own countries economical and political dilemmas and showed how they implemented solutions. They also emphasized the role of Saudi Arabia in supporting and helping their countries in the best ways possible.

Towards the end of this first session as the discussions were wrapping up I started to smell the food and it sure smells good. Well, I guess my nose and my stomach is telling me it is lunch time and the end of the first session.

So until the next session….. Bon Appetit!