The third World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) kicked off Monday in Kuala Lumpur, bringing together participants from more than 30 countries and regions for exchange of ideas and exploration of business cooperation opportunities.

The forum, themed "Global Challenges: Innovative Partnerships" this year, focuses on the forging of innovative partnerships among Muslim nations as well as between Muslims and non-Muslims.

State leaders and distinguished guests attending the opening ceremony include Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah and Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al- Khaimah of the United Arab Emirates.

In his official opening address, Badawi, who is also chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), noted the challenges the Muslim countries are facing in this globalized, increasingly competitive world.

"While the 57 OIC nations account for 21 percent of the global population in 2005, they make up only 5 percent of global GDP ..... .50 percent of the population of Islamic countries live on less than two U.S. dollars a day," Badawi said at the Putra World Trade Center here.

Highlighting the importance of innovation and knowledge, Badawi called upon the Muslim countries to take measures to enhance creativity as well as innovation in their respective countries and to pool their resources to jump-start entrepreneurship and innovation among the Muslim world.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian president, in a special keynote address, said the Muslim countries have the capacity to "play a commensurate role in the shaping of the world economic order."

"We in the OIC are all stakeholders in the making of a better world and we have the capacity to protect and promote our stake. We can create wealth and compete in the global market and still uphold and fulfill the values that make us truly human," Susilo said in his speech titled "Islam and the Challenges of Modernization."

The two-day forum is expected to have speakers from both the Muslim world and the non-Muslim countries, comprising ministers, senior officials, former state leaders, scholars as well as entrepreneurs.

It is preceded by a full-day pre-conference event on Sunday by two of WIEF's initiatives, namely, the WIEF Businesswomen Network Forum and the WIEF Young Leaders Forum.

Initiated by Malaysia, the WIEF was first held in Kuala Lumpur in 2005. It seeks to emulate the World Economic Forum in Davos and aims to become the preeminent world forum on Muslim leadership and Islamic business and trade.

Source: Xinhua