Arab Thought Foundation

The Arab Thought Foundation (Al-Fikr AlArabi) is an international, independent and non-governmental organization founded in 2001 with a guiding mission to help advance the economic, social and cultural development of the Arab region.^[1] The founders are Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud and his son Bandar bin Khalid Al Saud. The current chairman of the organization is Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud. The Foundation believes that open and constructive dialogue between the business community, academic and civil society is imperative for the future development of the region. By sharing knowledge, nurturing creativity and building on this dialogue, practical solutions for the collective future of the Arab people can be forged.

Activities

To fulfill its mission, the Arab Thought Foundation hosts a program of events and youth-orientated initiatives throughout the year, across disciplines such as education, arts & culture, science and technology. Central to the Foundation’s program is the celebrated FIKR gathering, an annual event providing a unique platform for ideas exchange and creative thinking.

FIKR is the cross-sector and cross-cultural gathering in the Arab world, bringing together a diverse community of senior academics, business leaders, representatives from civil society and most importantly, Arab youth - the future of the region.

Objectives

Some of its objectives of organization are:

• Assembling intelligent and insightful Arab business leaders to discuss local and global challenges.
• Determining how Arab executives are developing innovative solutions to the complex challenges in the areas of growth.
• Questioning the assembled leaders as to how they are balancing the responsibilities to society while building a successful business.
• Raising awareness of the values, policies and business practices of the Arab cultures, and their impact on the global market.
• Continuing to be recognized as the premiere conference in the Arab region.
• Offering program content that is stimulating, timely and meaningful, particularly for members of the Arab World.
• Fostering an exchange of information and deepening a mutual respect between Arab leaders and their non-Arab counterparts and providing value to new ideas, initiatives and relationships in order to encourage participants to be included in the future FIKR conferences.

References

External links

• Arab Thought Foundation (Arabic)
• Arab Thought Foundation (English) Links to English language page - Retrieved 10 October 2012.
• Here is the English language page for the Arabic Culture website - Retrieved 10 October 2012.
• FIKR Conferences
• FIKR - English language website International Arab Conference - Retrieved 10 October 2012.