US$ 1 million to Islamic–Western peace building initiative | May 24, 2005

May 23 2005

Press Release - World Economic Forum

Dead Sea, Jordan - Leading Saudi businessman and the world’s fifth-wealthiest man, billionaire Prince Walid bin-Talal, is to donate US$ 1 million towards an Islamic-Western peace-building effort from the World Economic Forum's Council of 100 Leaders (C-100). The announcement was made by the Kingdom Holding Company’s CEO at the World Economic Forum in Jordan 2005 held at the Dead Sea.

Following the establishment of American Studies Centres at two universities in the Middle East, he has now thrown his weight behind the Forum's C-100 initiative, a clearinghouse for action-oriented projects that advance Islamic-Western reconciliation. The C-100 initiative promotes understanding and dialogue between the two worlds.

The C-100 initiative is the foremost community of senior political, religious, business, media and opinion leaders from the West and the Islamic world. Council members participating in the World Economic Forum in Jordan 2005 launched a framework for the peace-building initiative.

The initiative will foster a culture of respect and cooperation together with mutual understanding between traditions and overcome the tensions and mistrusts of the era. Dialogues in education, media, religion and business best practices are expected to result from the initiative.

C-100 will also establish a multifaceted intercultural dialogue that bridges divides through shared commitment to common values and goals, together with a programme of joint action bringing concrete practical results, transformational change and highly visible cooperation.

The C-100 is chaired by Lord Carey of Clifton, Former Archbishop of Canterbury, United Kingdom and H.R.H. Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Saudi Arabia. The group represents the first global effort to set in motion official and explicit cooperation between the Western and Islamic worlds.