Arab-western meeting of skills set to take place in Berlin jan 17-18

Distinguished Arab professionals living in the West and the Middle East, policy makers from the United States and European countries, and representatives from international organizations get together in Berlin January 17-18 for the first Arab-Western Summit of Skills, dedicated to promoting civic and economic infrastructure development in the Arab world.

Organizers say they hope the roughly 100 participants and panelists in the two-day meeting will foster contacts and idea exchanges that will lead to cooperation and business dealings across continents. The Berlin meeting was organized as a follow-up to the Extraordinary Meeting of the World Economic Forum, which was held in Amman, Jordan in June 2003 and has been hailed as a model for such events.

Akram Baker, chairman of Brandicate Consultants and one of the organizers, said the Berlin meeting discussions will address some of the issues highlighted in the UNDP Arab Human Development Report 2002.

Among the findings of that landmark study was that Arab countries could "capitalize on the expertise of the one million highly qualified Arabs working in industrialized countries. Linkages could be reinforced by building systematic databases of external Arab experts, setting up efficient channels of communication with them, providing facilities for visits to Arab countries ... and supporting associations of highly qualified Arabs abroad."

Baker, who was born in the United States and has lived in the United States and Europe, said the conference seeks to do exactly that.

"We want to build up a network," he said. "The Berlin Summit is an effort to build a network."

"I know that while Arab Americans have been successful and integrated themselves and built up their political and civil rights, European Arabs have not. I wanted to take these different competencies strewn all over the world and bring them together," he said.

Beyond that, the organizers hope the meeting will provide an opportunity to allow Arab professionals in the West to share their experiences, knowledge and skills with their counterparts in the Middle East. Key to this endeavor is that this effort will occur among individuals and non-governmental agencies.

"The goal is to change policy by staying above the politics," Baker said. "Politics can be used and often is used, especially in the Middle East, as an excuse for not doing things. I wanted to remove that excuse and say, ‘Well, what can you do to enact change instead of blaming policies or politics.'"

"Neither the U.S. government or Israel is responsible for us not instituting our own standards in our own countries. That burden lies with us. That's what I mean by changing the policy by staying above the politics."

The key themes to be discussed at the summit deal with issues considered to be critical to social cohesion and economic success, including the rule of law, individual liberty, press freedom, governmental and business transparency, regulation and oversight, education, and women and youth.

One of the key aspects of the UNDP Arab Human Development Report was that it was undertaken and completed by successful Arabs who were willing to cast a critical and analytical eye at Middle East society. Baker believes that same dynamic will play a significant role at the Berlin meeting.

"It is done by Arabs for Arabs," he said. "No one likes to be told what to do. When you have enough competency and have enough talent in the family, you don't need to go outside. While we all profited from the experiences of the U.S. and Europe, that doesn't mean we have to copy them or take their advice as God-given."

Accordingly, Baker said, organizers "found a groundswell of support from a real cross-section of society. People were very hungry to have something where they could use their skills to the advantage of the greater good. The people we invited are all successful in their own right. They're successful in the heart of the West and the Middle East."

Looking at the long-term, organizers hope the participants at the Berlin meeting will address what Baker termed "the massive brain drain" that characterizes Arab society today. According to the UNDP report, 25 percent of all Arab university graduates eventually leave their country to resettle in the West.

"We want to build organizations and companies and institutions which provide the kind of world class and international standards that are available in the West at home," Baker said. "We shouldn't have to go to Washington or London to find a good public healthcare sector or healthy human resources programs."

Baker's Berlin-based Brandicate Consultants and the Amr Group, of Arlington, Virginia, are the key organizers of the event, which has garnered widespread support. Sponsors include international corporations, non-governmental entities as well as the U.S. State Department, the European Union and the German Foreign Ministry.

Others supporting and taking part in the summit are the Dearborn, Michigan-based Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, the Washington, D.C.-based Islamic Free Market Institute Foundation, the Arab American Institute, the Network of Arab American Professionals, Search for Common Ground and the Aspen Institute Berlin, among others.

"They're patrons and their help includes some financing, but it is definitely a show run by the organizers," Baker said.

While the focus will clearly be on the Arab world, Baker sees another positive emerging from the Berlin meeting.

"I think that this is a good first step for the U.S. government in getting to know the Arab world in a different way," he said.