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H.H The Aga Khan Interview on CNN: Building boom in the Middleast

Date: 
Friday, 2010, December 10
Location: 
Source: 
CNN video
CNN Interview of H.H. The Aga Khan in Doha  2010-12-10
Author: 
Healthy Speed of Change By John Defterios

H.H The Aga Khan Interview on CNN: Building boom in the Middle East

Doha is a city that welcomes a slower pace – despite its breakneck pace of development – and it is where I sat down with the Aga Khan, the Imam of the largest branch of the Ismaili followers, for an exclusive interview. The window of time was limited – 10 minutes to be precise – but precious in its outcome.

The Aga Khan was in Qatar to present a handful of awards for architectural excellence – major projects touching the Islamic world that make a difference to the lives of nearly 1.5 billion people. His Highness is a man who backs his words with action. His network is focussed on what he calls “the construction of civil society” since he believes it is the “greatest guarantor of positive change.”

The network facilitates economic, housing and tourism development in more than 30 countries and encourages investment to foster employment and advance education. But here is the caveat: change must be calibrated.

“I think the issue is not only quality of life. There are many other criteria and one of the ones we are most exposed to as a network of institutions is, ‘What is a healthy speed of change?’ Because you can move too fast.”

His Highness was cautious not to point fingers at any countries in particular: For example, I asked him if Saudi Arabia and Egypt can play catch up on the education and poverty reduction fronts. He chose two positive stalwarts in Southeast Asia with majority Muslim populations, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“One cannot generalise when it comes to the Islamic world. If you look at countries like Malaysia or Indonesia they have invested heavily on education and they have seen the benefits of that investment.”

However, in the Middle East, a lack of patience with the process of playing catch up, says the Aga Khan, could tear at the fabric of society.

“It is not only addressing a form a paralysis of development and extricating yourself from that frozen situation, it is also that societies don’t change that quickly and if you force them to change that quickly you are going to run into another set of problems.”

One of the key problems facing regional leaders is the rapid birth rate and its knock-on effect in the problem of double-digit youth unemployment. Policymakers are in agreement that 100 million jobs need to be created by the end of the decade for the jobless rate to stand still. It is a tall order, but adds the Aga Khan, educating the workforce will, over time, lead to a drop in birth rates, while development will do the same for the unemployment rate.

In the meantime, the Aga Khan wants to keep rural development on the radar of leaders throughout the Islamic world, in part to slow down the massive migration to city centers in search of work.

He said: “It has to be a priority, after all 70% of the Muslim population around the world lives from the land or on the land.”

The Aga Khan said, "Societies just don't change that quickly. And if you do force them to change quickly, you are going to run into another set of problems."

CNN asked the Aga Khan about his key priorities.

The Aga Khan said: "The general goal of the Aga Khan Development Network a system of agencies is to assist in the construction of civil society. We have over the past fifty years, come to the conclusion that the strength and quality of civil society is the greatest guarantor of processes of positive change

CNN: It is incredible because you look at the highest per capita income. So if one takes Doha with the highest per capita income in the world of nearly $90,000 a year and then Yemen at around $1,200, it is not realistic to keep a gap that wide and not expect trouble at the bottom end

Aga Khan: I think that the issue is not only the differences in the quality of life. There are many other criteria. And one of the ones we are most exposed to in the network of institutions is what is healthy speed of change because you can move too fast. It is not only addressing a form of paralysis of development and extricating yourselves from that terrible situation. It is also that societies just don't change that quickly. And if you do force them to change, you are going to run into another set of problems.

CNN: Change has been introduced in many parts of the world, in the Islamic world has been very fast-paced but we also have the fastest birth-rates in the world. So in a sense these governments needs to manage this change to the very accelerated pace as a result of a very fast birth-rate.

Aga Khan: Population rates are serious issues in much of the Islamic world. But not only in the Islamic world. But what I think we have tended to see is as the economy modernizes, birth-rates drop in any event. So that is a global process.

CNN: Do you think that in the broader Middle East region that education was not a priority? That you see countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar spending a good quarter or third of their budgets now to play catch-up in the last two decades, lost decades in human capital development.

Aga Khan: One cannot generalise when it comes to the Islamic world. If you look at countries like Malaysia or Indonesia they have invested heavily on education and they have seen a return on that investment. Other countries did not move that quickly for various reasons. They did not have institutional capacities to And so they are now in a catch-up mode. So I don't think it is too late

CNN: If you look at it we have a Muslim market if you will, of nearly i.5 billion consumers, but they often don't trade amongst themselves. And you say that the more progressive economies, like Malaysia, now looking to the Gulf or even looking to China or the Middle East. This is a marked change over the last 5 to ten years ago

Aga Khan: It is indeed

CNN: Can you get

CNN: Can you get accelerated trade to actually deal with

Aga Khan: I would tend to differentiate between the countries which are essentially driven by rural and agricultural economies and economies which are driven by other resources.

CNN In effect so, rural economies has to be a priority

Aga Khan: It has to be a priority because after all 70% of the Muslim population in the world probably lives from the land or on it.

CNN comment: Once again the Aga Khan talking to me in Doha.


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