Malaysian leader calls for economic overhaul of Muslim world

KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - Malaysia's leader Tuesday called for a massive economic overhaul of the Islamic world to boost its competitiveness so Muslims can reap the benefits of globalization.

Islamic countries are still grappling with basic developmental issues and are "woefully unprepared" to engage the wider world, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a speech at an international Islamic conference.

About half of the population in Islamic states live on less than US$2 a day and Muslims around the world are plagued by poverty, illiteracy malnutrition and disease, said Abdullah, who chairs the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference.

Some Muslims have begun to view globalization as a conspiracy to undermine Islam, which led to radical views and extremist acts, but he said they must change their mind-set and be ready to take advantage of the expansion of global trade.

"The phenomenon of globalization is here to stay. Simply opposition globalization ... is clearly not a wise option. In fact, it is not an option at all," Abdullah said in the speech, which was read by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.

"We must begin to revive the economic position of Muslim nations," he said in the speech. "We cannot remain mere spectators in a world that is rapidly moving ahead. We must commit ourselves to enhancing our competitiveness."

Despite accounting for 20 percent of global population, he said the OIC accounted for less than 5 percent of world's gross domestic product and only about 6-7 percent of total global trade in 2005.

Worse still, the OIC's share of trade within developing nations plunged from 47.5 percent in 1980 to only 22 percent in 2001, he said.

"Clearly the Muslim (community) needs to engineer a massive turnaround if we are to recover our ground in the economic arena," Abdullah said.

He urged Muslims worldwide to set aside their sectarian differences and unite to tackle poverty, to invest in education and skills to build a knowledgeable society, and to combat corruption.

The two-day conference was organized by the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding.