By IINA,
Kuwait City : British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the world was aware of the Islamic countries’ political, economic and cultural needs, adding that the one billion Muslims living on this planet could not be overlooked. Speaking at the Fourth World Islamic Economic Forum’s (WIEF) session on “The Muslim World as a Burgeoning Market” in the second day today, he said a number of lessons could be learnt from the developments that the world was witnessing at present, the first of which was that economic openness was the key to success, citing London and New York as examples of open financial centers, KUNA reported.
He added that when India and China opened up to the world, they became leading economic powers, predicting that they would soon be among the leaders of global economy. Another lesson, he said it was related to human resources, saying that education had to always be a priority for all governments seeking to achieve success, reiterating that no successful economy could come without good university education. Yet another lesson, according to Blair, was that reforming the public sector made it more efficient and that this sector had to benefit from the experience of the private sector.
In a fourth lesson, the former premier said it was related to the management of resources, especially such natural resources as oil, noting that this had become more important with the openness of global markets and the diversity of investment tools. On global changes after 9/11, Blair said that neither the US nor Europe could close its doors to immigrants, but that what was required was a regulation of this process so as not to hinder globalization, which he described as the basis for development. He concluded by says that both Muslim and non-Muslim countries played in the same court and that success would contribute to greater development and create opportunities for dialogue.