Private sector group to explore Islamic trade links

Muslim spiritual leader Douglas Owen Ali (right), in discussion with management consultant Dr. Franklin Johnston following a Gulf Investment Initiative/Global Awareness charity press briefing at the Courtleigh Hotel, New Kingston on Thursday. -Ian Allen

MUSLIM NATIONS are interested in playing a greater role in assisting in the development of Jamaica, says Imam Douglas Owen Ali, local Muslim spiritual leader and head of the Global Oneness/Gulf Investment Initiative.

Imam Ali told a press briefing at the Courtleigh Hotel, New Kingston on Thursday that already, Saudi Arabia was offering 12 scholarships to Jamaican students to study engineering and medical and other sciences at its universities. In addition, he said, Saudi Arabia was also interested in sending doctors to work here as part of a humanitarian initiative.

He said Islam has an important role to play in helping Jamaica to achieve its true potential.

In pursuing this objective, Imam Ali launched "Muslims for Universal Oneness, Justice and Peace." The initiative, he said, would embrace the divine philosophy of "Justice for every race, equality in every place."

Imam Ali also announced the launch of the Gulf Investment Initiative (GII) which, he said, would seek to encourage, foster and attract significant foreign direct investment inflows from the Persian Gulf States, the Middle East and the wider Muslim world.

He will lead a delegation of Jamaican interests and business team, headed by UGI Group's Neville Blythe, to New York on July 17 to meet with Islamic business interests, including bankers, to study opportunities for investment projects in Jamaica.

Imam Ali will also be a guest speaker at the historic International Islamic Sym-posium, which will be hosted at the Universal Islamic Centre in Chicago, Illinois, USA, August 10-12.

He says that at the symposium, he will be representing Jamaica and the wider Caribbean and will serve as an international ambassador promoting Islamic interests in the region. The theme of the three-day symposium will be "The Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad in the Light of the New Millennium."

During the event he will be meeting with Islamic political, cultural and economic leaders.

Imam Ali says that the symposium will be a milestone for Jamaica and the Caribbean region as it makes for a significant presence in the wider Muslim world, at a time when countries need to come together for mutual economic, political and cultural benefit.

"We are concerned about the establishment of Islam in Jamaica in a prominent and dignified manner," he told the media. He said that his first objective will be the building of an Islamic national mosque and cultural centre in Kingston.

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