PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON
ADDRESSES DOHA CONFERENCE ON MIDDLE EAST ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT CO-SPONSORED BY THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS OF QATAR AND UCLA’S BURKLE CENTER FOR
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Stresses Need for Global
Cooperation to Foster Economic and Social Development in
the Middle East.
Doha, Qatar January 31, 2006. Former President Bill
Clinton, addressing the opening session in Doha of the
international conference “Enriching The Middle East’s
Economic Future,” co-sponsored by the Qatari government
and UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations,
said “If we get the strategy right on the politics of
the region, we will have a very positive future in the
Middle East.”
Speaking before an international audience, including
high-level delegations of private and public sector
leaders from the Gulf region, China, India, Japan,
Israel, and the United States, President Clinton offered
a blueprint for advancing economic and social
development in the Middle East. He outlined a six point
plan, including expanding infrastructural and capital
investment in broad economic sectors; the development of
regulatory structures to promote small business, job
creation, economic diversity, and the strengthening of
the middle class; a system of on-going investment in
education to get more young people in school, increasing
opportunities for university education, maximizing the
intellectual capacity of the region, including getting
more women into the workforce, especially in skilled
jobs;
guaranteeing more consumer capacity
through the creation of minimum wage policies and
unemployment insurance; and expanding the capacity of
countries to offer business education.
President Clinton commended the government and citizens
of Qatar for their innovative efforts to develop new
economic approaches through their investment in
education partnerships with institutions around the
world at the Qatar Foundation’s Education City. He also
commended his co-panelist, His Excellency Sheikh Hamad
Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, First Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister, for Qatar’s regional and
global leadership in developing new economic
alternatives in the energy sector, especially liquefied
natural gas (LNG). “I believe the Middle East can be not
just the global oil leader in the 21st century, but also
the global energy leader”, through innovating and
investing in energy alternatives such as LNG, as well as
wind and solar energy.
Dr. Steven Spiegel of UCLA’s Burkle Center, said “All of
us at UCLA are very pleased to have had the opportunity
to share ideas and learning at our conference’s opening
session with President Clinton and His Excellency Sheikh
Hamad about international cooperation to promote
economic development in the Middle East.”
The Conferences Organizing Committee at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs organizes the following conferences
annually: The U.S. Muslim World Forum, A Dialogue
Between Religions, Democracy Development and Free Trade,
and NATO and Security in the Gulf.
The Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations
(BCIR) is an integral part of the UCLA International
Institute which provides the highest quality policy
analysis on the most pressing problems on the global
geopolitical landscape that affect American foreign
policy.
The Center’s work includes research, teaching and public
outreach and service on the contemporary world and the
role of the United States in global security, military,
political, social and economic affairs. For more
information on the Burkle Center for International
Relations and the conference visit our website at:
http://www.international.ucla.edu/bcir/doha/.
The Conferences Organizing Committee at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs is organizing the following conferences
annually: The U.S. Muslim World Forum, A Dialogue
Between Religions, Democracy Development and Free Trade,
and NATO and Security in the Gulf. For further
information on The Permanent Committee for Organizing
Conferences, and this Conference, please visit it's
website as follows :
(http://www.qatar-conferences.org).
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