New ASF to help Arab interests

The Arab Strategy Forum (ASF) is to be relaunched in an interactive format intended to enhance its status as a knowledge platform, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation announced yesterday.

The new format will enable Arab and international thought leaders to convene and address current issues in the region. It includes a series of events that will be organised in different Arab countries in the run-up to ASF 2010.

"Part of our aim is to institutionalise the ASF as an entity that provides equal opportunities for everyone to participate in dialogue and share opinions on issues that concern their communities," said ASF CEO Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan.

"The ASF will serve as an active change agent for the Arab World through its dual role as knowledge generator and disseminator."

Al Hatlan said the Arab Strategy Forum was previously held biannually until the foundation took it under its umbrella as its knowledge platform.

"Since the establishment of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, it became clear that both the ASF and the foundation share the same vision for the region and a common interest in promoting knowledge in the Arab World."

He announced that the ASF, in its new format, would launch the Arab Knowledge Report, a joint effort between the foundation and the United Nations Development Programme.

The launch of the report is scheduled for October 28 in Dubai and will be followed by a series of discussion sessions titled Towards a Knowledge Society in the Arab World.

The two-day event will bring together some 30 researchers and intellectuals to discuss the status of knowledge in the Arab World.

 

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