Gayoom departs for HK to attend CGI Asia meeting

November 30th, 2008 | Posted in Featured

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has departed for Hong Kong, last night, to attend the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Asia Meeting to be held from 2 – 3 December. The trip is the first since his defeat in the country’s first ever multi party presidential elections held on 28 October 2008.

Speaking to Miadhu Daily, Special Assistant Foreign Relations of the Secretariat of the Former President Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu) expressed that the invitation was extended to Gayoom by former US President Bill Clinton sometime mid this year. He noted that the invitation was made personally to former president Gayoom and not to the President of the country.

Mundhu said Gayoom will be participating in discussion on issues of global warming and renewable energies, in addition to discussions related to natural disasters like tsunami.
According to the website of the CGI, each CGI Asia participant must make a commitment to action, a new, specific, and measurable initiative that addresses a social, economic, or environmental problem of the member’s choosing.

For two days starting Tuesday, Clinton will engage a distinguished group of leaders in panel discussions and interactive working sessions, each of which will examine specific challenges and opportunities for action.

The meeting will focus on three primary areas of discussion: education, energy and climate change, and public health.

This is the first CGI meeting outside the United States and Asia’s most influential leaders will be on hand for the event.

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is an independent channel for action that brings together a community of global leaders from various backgrounds to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

In 2005, President Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to turn ideas into action and to help our world move beyond the current state of globalization to a more integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values. By gathering world leaders from a variety of backgrounds, CGI creates a unique opportunity to channel the capacities of individuals and organizations to realize change.