Mr. Chairman,


I would like to offer my warmest respects and great appreciation to President Al-Assad for his excellent opening address. Also, my congratulations to you, Mr. Chairman and my very best wishes for the coming year.

We are most grateful to your government and people for their very kind welcome and for the most generous hospitality we have received in this beautiful ancient city.

Lastly, my warmest thanks to Minister Kutesa and the Government of Uganda for their excellent work over the past year.

Mr. Chairman,

This region has had many names but there is one that sums it up for our people.

It is the heartland of our faith.

And the heart is a real one. This means that we feel deeply concerned when it is under stress, as parts of it have been for a very long time.

So, I would like to begin by expressing our deep friendship and support for all our friends and colleagues in the region, especially the people of Palestine. They have been struggling for peace and justice for over sixty years and, once again, we in Brunei Darussalam assure them of our solidarity with them.

In specific terms, Mr. Chairman, we stand firmly by the United Nations Security Council resolution 242 and similarly with your own government’s position on the Golan Height, we stand by resolution 338. In both cases we are guided by the people of Palestine and Syria and we wish their governments well in all their efforts on behalf of their people.

I would also like to add my welcome to the growing number of countries, institutions and group who are with us here. It is very good to see this and we will continue to encourage others to join with us in whatever way they can.

Mr. Chairman,

I like the theme you have chosen for this session: "Enhancing Islamic Solidarity"

It may look vague. It may sound academic. In fact, it is neither. It is precise and practical and it is most timely.

As we said last year at the summit in Dakar we wish to see a united Islamic Ummah. By this, we mean a people who are united in their ability to take on the 21st century on 21st century terms with solid hope and solid confidence.

Last year, we saw the focus of this as the ten-year action plan. We still do. Much however has changed since last year, of course. There are now serious economic and financial problems facing the whole international community.

So, the question we all face goes to the core of our plan of action.

How will these problems affect us?

Right now, we are nearly half-way through it and as the Secretary-General has reported it is producing good results.

Our organisation is working well with other international groups and agencies. It is doing a very good job promoting Islamic causes, views and concerns. It is also helping to build up international understanding among faith and, at the same time trade between our members is increasing and there is progress in our efforts to reach the targets for the millennium development goals.

As a result, the organisation becomes stronger. It has increased its stature and it is gaining wider international respect.

Nevertheless, the international financial crisis could easily set back all these achievements. It could leave our people feeling utterly helpless and without hope and confidence.

I am sure we all share this fear, Mr. Chairman so I hope we can make our response directly to our people. I hope we can give them three strong statements.

Firstly: “the financial crisis will not affect the work of the Islamic Development Bank, the Islamic Centre for the Development of Trade nor that of any of our agencies.”

Secondly: “it will not stop our governments’ efforts to reach the millennium development goals.”

And lastly: “we will stick to all our targets in the ten-year plan."

If we can say all this, no one can accuse us of having only a culture of complaint. Instead, we will be seen as having a culture of confidence. In doing so, we will show our people that we are much more than an organisation. They will feel that we are now a real movement moving towards a strong future and helping them face that future with hope and honour.

In this way, Mr. Chairman, we will be truly be enhancing Islamic Solidarity…. And in the deepest and finest possible way.

Thank you.  

 

(source: www.mfa.gov.bn)