Prince Amyn Aga Khan addresses the delegates at the opening of the Ismaili Economic Forum in Dubai. Photo: Ally Production Fze
Dubai, 27 April 2008 — The Ismaili Economic Forum (IEF), a Golden Jubilee International Programme, was opened by Prince Amyn yesterday, amidst an unprecedented international gathering of Ismaili economic and business leaders.
Approximately 270 delegates, representing the Jamats of some 25 countries, are participating in the three-day conference being held at the Ismaili Centre Dubai.
Focusing on the theme of Strategic Business Alliances, the conference seeks to encourage Ismaili entrepreneurs to come together to form partnerships and alliances, thereby collaborating on economic opportunities and addressing common challenges. The IEF further promotes social responsibility as going hand-in-hand with economic progress, a philosophy espoused by AKDN agencies such as the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development and the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance.
Prince Amyn speaks with IEF delegates at the Ismaili Centre Dubai. Photo: Ally Production Fze
Welcoming the conference participants, President Naushad Rashid of the Ismaili Council for the United Arab Emirates noted that “exactly one month ago, Mawlana Hazar Imam opened this Centre on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee visit to the UAE.”
“Much to our delight,” he continued, “Hazar Imam’s brother, Prince Amyn has come here to inaugurate the first conference to be held at the Ismaili Centre Dubai — this too, on a day coinciding with its one month anniversary.”
In his inaugural address, Prince Amyn discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to partnerships and alliances, drawing on four decades of experience in social, economic, cultural and civil society development with eminent institutions within and outside the Aga Khan Development Network. He explained the multifarious aims of partnerships, which include leveraging opportunities globally, accessing new and broader markets, increasing market share, assisting in the redeployment of resources from the developed to the developing world, assisting individual enterprises to ascend the value chain, the sharing of best practices, increasing efficiencies and diminishing costs, and assisting gallant entrepreneurs to mature and expand.
Posted by inb1 
Posted by inb1 