By IINA,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is to deliver key-note speech at an international conference on the Muslim world, which is set to open by Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Rais Yatim here today. Several prominent figures, including the Secretary General of Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, former Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, President of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights Kejll Magne Bondevik, who is also former Norway prime minister, and King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies Chairman Prince Turki Al Faisal are to attend the two-day event. The conference entitled “Muslim World and The West: Bridging the Gap”, is the third in the series organized by Malaysia, and is jointly hosted by the Foreign Ministry, Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations and the Cordoba Initiative.
The conference aims to define and agree on what constitutes the gap between the Muslim World and The West. There will be two main sessions – a high-level plenary session and four concurrent strategy sessions, which are expected to propose practical solutions and specific projects to narrow the gap. About 50 local and foreign experts and representatives from a cross-section of the civil society, government, non-governmental organizations and think-tanks will participate in the strategy sessions.