OREANDA-NEWS. March 30, 2011. At the Government’s House in Astana Kazakhstan’s PM Karim Massimov met World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Chairman Tun Musa Hitam.

The parties dwelt on a wide range of issues related to cooperation with Kazakhstan as the forthcoming chair of Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the venue of the 7th World Islamic Economic Forum.

Launched in 2003 at the OIC Business Forum, the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) is a global conference that acts as an international business platform where the business sectors of the Muslim world meet for business opportunities and, together with the government leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers and academics, act as a hub where policy proposals on economic development can be formulated.

Previous Forums have been held in Malaysia, Pakistan, Kuwait and Indonesia. The most recent Forum was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in May 2010 and 2,567 delegates from 67 countries participated in the three day conference.

The next WIEF will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan from 7 to 9 June 2011. The theme of the forum will be Globalizing Growth: Connect, Compete, Collaborate. Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world and by 2015, it will join the top 10 oil exporting countries. It was ranked as the most improved economy in the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2011” report.