nbk organizes ‘opportunity and crisis in the middle east’ symposium
General Powell emphasis on educating young population
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) on Sunday organized a symposium titled ‘Opportunity and Crisis in the Middle East’ at the Sheraton Hotel. The symposium was held under the patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah. The Guest speaker for the evening was former US Secretary of State General Colin Powell.
The evening started with the opening remarks by Nasser Musaed Al-Sayer, Vice Chairman, NBK, who said: “I would like to extend our special thanks to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah for his patronage of this event and to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign affairs Sheikh/ Dr Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, who is attending on the Prime Minister’s behalf. A very special appreciation goes to retired General Colin Powell for accepting our invitation to speak here tonight.”
Elaborating on the theme of the evening, the Vice Chairman said, “There has rarely been a time in history in which two seemingly opposing forces- opportunity and crisis- were so obviously and simultaneously apparent as today, not only in the Middle East, but across the world. This year is set to be the fifth year of an economic boom that is reshaping the Middle East, and is under pinned by a combination of surging oil and gas revenues, positive demographics and progressive economic reforms. These factors have created a more dynamic economic environment that we have witnessed for decades.”
Highlighting on the achievements of General Powell, Al-Sayer said, “General Colin Powell has enjoyed a long, visible and highly distinguished career in the world of international affairs which has earned him respect and popularity both in his country and on the international scene. In his most recent position in public office- as Secretary of State between 2001-2005 he led the US State Department to address worldwide regional and civil conflicts, and played a key role in the war on terrorism in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. General Powell is fervent advocate of democratic values, of extending democracy, prosperity, and freedom to every corner of the world, by establishing a balance of power that favors freedom across the globe.”
The evening saw many distinguished personalities from political, economic and social backgrounds. With the setting absolutely perfect, General Powell began his address by reminiscing about how much the world has changed in the past 50 years.
He started his remarks by stating that he has very fond memories of Kuwait. “It was the challenging days of 1990-91 when we assembled the great coalition, the coalition consisting of so many nations around the world, 34 nations; all with support of the UN Resolution that came to your assistance and helped liberate Kuwait and eliminate the Iraqi army. All these past years and many years before that...I can assure you that the American people are committed to the security and welfare of the Kuwaiti people and we are committed to all the challenges that are before us and dealing with the opportunities that are there and create new opportunities and taking advantage of the opportunities that are there.”
General Powell gave an overall view of the changing world scenario before he touched on the opportunity and crisis in the Middle East. He stated that it helps give proper perspective to the title “No region stands alone anymore; no region can think itself separate…from the trends that sweeping across the world.”
General Powell then discussed his days as a young 21 year old lieutenant who had just entered the army and in those days “the world was divided into its blocs. And if you were not part of the great super power bloc you were the third world,” He said, “the blocs were represented by the Soviet empire behind the iron curtain in Europe and the Chinese empire behind the bamboo curtain in Asia.”
He then elaborated on how much the world has changed since those days giving small anecdotes and sharing his experiences in the army.
General Powell then touched upon the Middle East region highlighting the opportunities and the crisis.
“Look at the wealth that has been created. More wealth has been created in the recent years than ever in any similar period in the history of the world. There is a revolution taking place. To a large extent it is driven by oil, and that brings me to the second game that is being played in this playing field. Economics is number one creation of wealth, create new jobs, build new cities, create new industries, what those industries require…what will take to create all those industries… is energy. The demand on energy will continue to rise…it will still be driven by hydrocarbons and oil for the foreseeable future and the demand will grow,” he said.
While discussing opportunities, General Powell laid great emphasis on education and investing in the young people. “You, here in the Gulf also have to make massive investment in education, because the young people that are growing up in the Gulf region have to be prepared…they have to get the tactical skills, they have to get the information based skills that they will need to be successful in the information driven economy that is emerging in the 21st century.”
He urged countries in the Gulf to upgrade infrastructure, education healthcare systems etc, “All the GCC countries I have visited are taking a hard look at these areas, how best to invest in the future of your society in the future of your economies by investing in your young people,” he said.
Moving on to discussing the crisis in the Middle East he touched on Iraq, Iran, and Palestine etc. General Powell stated that these have been “nagging problems” in this part of the world for a long time.
Commenting on the Iraqi situation, General Powell said, “Under General Petreaus leadership, the military surge that went in, seems to have had some success in reducing the level of violence. Shia and Sunni leaders have taken a role in reducing the violence.”
On the issue of Iran he said, “The world will be better off if Iran has no enrichment program.” He added that he does not see the prospect of conflict with Iran.
He hoped that some progress would be made at the upcoming Annapolis conference on Israel and Palestine.
General Powell concluded by saying, “It is a fascinating period of history… It is period of history, where wealth is being created in a way that nobody could imagine, a few years ago, driven to a large extent by oil and the price of oil, but it is not just supply and demand, it is the increasing demand needed, for these countries to build up their economies, and oil is the lubricant that is needed to build up these economies.”
