Under the patronage of President of the Republic of Turkey HE Mr. Abdullah Gul

Abu-Ghazaleh Member of High Advisory Council of the ICP Speaks at the 3rd Bosphorus Regional Cooperation Summit

The future leading economies will depend on the emergence of new global geoeconomic blocks led by the US, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Nigeria and Germany and regionally by Egypt, Turkey, Iran and the GCC. There is no doubt that wealth is moving from North to South and from West to East- HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh

ISTANBUL-----December 17, 2011----- Under the patronage of President of the Republic of Turkey HE Mr. Abdullah Gul, the third Bosphorus Regional Cooperation Summit of the International Cooperation Platform (ICP), concluded at Istanbul Ciragan Palace with the attendance of government officials and businessmen from 49 countries spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Gulf regions, Turkic republics and the Balkans.

The event held under the theme "The potential of Eurasia in the restructuring of the global order" serves as a meeting point for leaders of today and tomorrow to tackle the current economic and social matters.

HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) was selected as member of the High Advisory Council of the International Cooperation Platform (ICP) for his vast global experience in various key fields.

In his keynote speech, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh tackled the economic changes which will be headed by countries with large populations.

"The future leading economies will depend on the emergence of new global geoeconomic blocks led by the US, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Nigeria and Germany and regionally by Egypt, Turkey, Iran and the GCC. There is no doubt that wealth is moving from North to South and from West to East," he said.

 "The economic crisis is Western not global yet it had great impact on the rest of the world," he added.

According to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, the world should focus more on Africa.
"I believe that more focus should be directed towards Africa which will soon become Europe of the future due to the potential futuristic elements it carries. We need to work towards a regional ASIAN AFRICAN e-services Free Trade Area (AAFTA)" he said,"

As a leader in knowledge aspects and practices, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stressed on the need to embrace knowledge as a guide to all future strategies.

"The information age is taking us to the knowledge age; and in future hopefully to a wisdom age. This is the century of artificial intelligence leading to singularity in 2050. The author of the famous Book "Singularity" sees that in 2050 man and machine will become one because the Internet will open new horizons in knowledge unknown to us," he said. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh also took part in the Routes out of the Economic Bottleneck Roundtable which focused on the dynamics of sustainable and inclusive growth, restructuring of the international economic establishments and new pattern of development embracing counties and individuals, new dynamics of employment.

"Economic power is the source of political and military power and we must accept the fact that future wealth creation is through the creation of knowledge and future growth in world trade will be in e-commerce," he said.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh who is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel of Experts on Defining the Future of Trade believes that there is an urgent need to reform International Trade.

"We also need to reform education as it is the core of any successful society. We need to move from teaching to digital learning and this is what we are doing through Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University (TAGIUNI), we are democratizing world class education in a knowledge era," Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.

"Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University (TAGIUNI) will give the chance to students to gain knowledge by learning and an accredited certificate from global educational institutions. The UN announced that the Internet is a right and I believe that education is also a right for everyone in the world and not just any education but education that comes out of knowledge," he added.

At the end of the Conference, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh received an honorary shield from the organizers. 

The 3rd Bosphorus Regional Cooperation Summit hosted important cooperation in its third year which includes the Russian Federation Northern Caucasus Region Social and Economic Development Project "ELBRUS."