Obama is hosting a two day summit aimed at improving business relations between the US and Muslim countries.
Obama announced new exchange programmes allowing entrepreneurs to share their expertise.But some have criticised the meeting as nothing more than a public relations stunt, Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane reports.
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Obama offers multi-million-dollar technology fund for Muslim nations
AFP
Barack Obama laid a key plank of his strategy to mend ties with the Islamic world on Monday hosting a summit to boost economic development in Muslim nations.
In a step the White House hopes will help shift relations beyond decades of talk about terrorism and conflict, Obama brought entrepreneurs from 50 countries to Washington for two days to spur economic ties.
The president pledged to host the meeting in a landmark speech in Cairo last June, when he also called for a “new beginning” to relations between the United States and the Muslim world.
Opening the meeting, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said boosting Muslim business would not only help the Islamic world, but would also help US security and trade.
“There are over a billion people living in Muslim-majority countries today, and they represent a vast reserve of under-utilized potential in the global economy,” Locke told delegates.
“It is very much in America’s — and indeed, the entire world’s — interest that you succeed.”
“Strong and balanced international trade only works if countries have growing economies and a growing middle class that are fully engaged in the international marketplace.”
Speaking ahead of the meeting, a senior administration official said there were also hard-headed political goals to the summit.
“One of the principal goals of that vision was to broaden our relationship, which has been dominated by a few different issues, a small set of issues, for at least the last decade, and going back further than that.”
“We don’t see this as a replacement for our work on things like Middle East peace or work on counter-terrorism, our work on Iran. We see this as part of establishing a more multifaceted set of relationships. It is yet another pillar.”
Obama is expected to discuss ways of improving access to capital, funding for technology innovation and exchange programs, as the United States tries to better its image in the eyes of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.
As part of Obama’s plan, the United States is poised to award contracts through its multi-million-dollar Global Technology and Innovation Fund, designed to spur investments in the Muslim world.
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New York Times
Obama Talks to Muslim Entrepreneurs
By HELENE C. COOPER
President Obama vowed to continue to press for a comprehensive peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, exhorting young entrepreneurs from Muslim majority countries to look for ways to work with their American counterparts on a wide range of issues.
“So long as I am President, the United States will never waver in pursuit of a two-state solution that ensures the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians,” Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Obama was speaking to businesspeople and intellectuals from Muslim countries who were attending his first summit on entrepreneurship, an offshoot of his speech to the Muslim world last year from Cairo.
The president called for more exchanges between Americans and Muslims, vowing to engage in a “sustained effort” to reach out and listen to opinions that come from particularly young people in Muslim countries.
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Wild Thing’s comment……..
Has he hosted Christian entrepreneurs? Catholic entrepreneurs? Jewish entrepreneurs?….NOPE!
“US President Barack Obama laid a key plank of his strategy to mend ties with the Islamic world on Monday hosting a summit to boost economic development in Muslim nations. “
Perhaps providing them with automatic stoning and decapitation machines or environmentally friendly Burquas to imprison their women in.
Obama is so insuffferable. He hates America, hates the American dream, he could care less about economic development in America. ONLY his Islam freaks. Obama cares about making this country non white and non christian plus making us weaker to the world, it’s frigging obvious that he cares more about muslims than Aamericans.
I believe this is Barry’s special interest. We know he’s a muslim. We know he’s a usurper. We know he HATES AMERICA. We know he wants the USA to fail. A Black person that was born in the 1960’s would not have that much animosity towards other people (americans) because the civil unrest (at that time )was almost over. Barry learned to hate America with a passion because he was raised in another counrty. So he is not an American. Sorry about the long message. Question Why do we have to teach the muslims anything? And what business counterpart is Barry talking about? The bomb making business.
Some day soon the headline will read: With the help of President Barak Obama, the Muslims have conquered America without ever firing a shot!
obama is a muslim. And he is a communist. Both of these beliefs are anti-American. obama shows his anti-Americanism almost daily. While he is president he is filling the govt with communist radicals and muslims with ties to terror. We have a questionable future ahead of us.
My take on this, hes trying to buy our National Security by making nice with the Arabs, virtually paying them not to attack us. Another huge give away of American techonology for their businesses to trade here also, obama figures, they won’t attack if their interests are at stake.
In the end it will mean more jobs being shipped overseas and our employment dropping again. It also looks like Al jazeera don’t trust him either.
4 legged walking piece of shit = Obama. Some day soon, we’ll flush the toilet.
Gary Locke could not be more wrong.
The Muslims represent a vast reserve of under-utilized potential in the global economy because they are Muslim. Unless they change there is no way they will ever improve their lot in life. People who do business in Egypt have done time-motion studies, Muslims waste their lives.
Obama hates not just America but the whole of western civilization from Stone Hinge until today. Growing up in Indonesia was very important for the roots of Barry’s third world despot attitudes.
cb, I agree he has no loyalty to our country at all. He can’t even pretend to because his hate for America is so strong. Good guestions too, I think he just wants an excuse to give these muslims in business money, our tax dollars at work for Obama’s agenda. grrrrrrr
dprosenthal, that is something that really
could happen the way things are going and those with a voice too afraid of PC to speak out and lay it on the line about the agenda of Islam.
Tom. I agree, our future is on very thin ice. I just keep praying and talking to people to see if they are realizing what is happening. Almost everyone I do get to talk to is furious at what is happening.
Mark, I thought that was interesting too that the
video is from Al jazeera and they are not big fans of obama, and I could not find one with much information done by anyone else.
Good point about him trying to buy some National Security, he is such a Muslim he will not see they can’t be bought like this, the terrorists could care less they kill their own all the time.
cuchieddie, YESSSSS and I can hardly wait for that day.
Avitar, Ditto all you said!!!!