Israeli President asks India to help in reducing poverty in Middle East

[Veeru]

Israeli President asks India to help in reducing poverty in Middle East

JERUSALEM: Acknowledging India's growing status as a regional economic power, Israel's President Shimon Peres has asked New Delhi to use its strength in solving the problem of poverty in the Middle East.

Israeli President also asked India to "help the Arab states in addressing their developmental challenges", sources here told PTI.

Peres also offered Israel's help in this regard as he felt "it is good for Israel too".

Commenting on the emerging global scenario, the elder statesman said that the world currently faces a "deficit of leadership" and that "there is too much money and too little ideas".

The Israeli leader made these comments during recently concluded fourth India-Israel forum where he was the guest of honour.

Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Infrastructure, Information and Innovation proposed setting up a "knowledge city" in India with Israel's help at the forum.

Pitroda suggested that the follow up meeting of the forum include a setting up of domain-expert groups in five sectors - agriculture, water, health, energy and hi-tech.

He also proposed exchange of corporate executive, professors and students.

Highlighting the impressive growth registered in bilateral trade between India and Israel, the adviser to India's Prime Minister suggested that the forum focus on cooperation in hi-tech sector and critical areas, including water conservation, renewables and agriculture.

Israel's Minister of Finance, Yuval Steinitz, also addressed the forum underlining the need to conclude the ongoing negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

With cooperation in the field of homeland security between the two countries tightening following the Mumbai terror attacks, Israel's Minister for Homeland Security, Matan Vilnai, also addressed the forum noting counter-terrorism challenges faced by both countries.

Israel asks India to help in reducing poverty in Middle East - The Economic Times

 

[Mech]

I have great respect for Israelis and deep admiration for their firm resolve. But, India is a country with millions of poor and undernourished individuals within it. We need to address this issue and resolve it inorder to be able to act the part of a 'good samaritan'.


However, it is my firm belief that the statement made by the Israeli premier is not what it seems to be. This may potentially be a call to India to play a greater role in the region. India is a known ally of Israel, and having a reliable ally besides the united states in the region would be in Israel's interest.



It is plain and obvious who will win the next Indian elections. The BJP coming to power and the pro-israeli military commanders will result in India asserting herself in the middle-east and south Asia.




Israeli leaders are playing a wise game.....i hope India can rise to the challenge.

 

[IND151]

we should carefully response to offer

if its OK for Indian economy only then we should accept offer

BTW this part is interesting

Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Infrastructure, Information and Innovation proposed setting up a "knowledge city" in India with Israel's help at the forum.

Pitroda suggested that the follow up meeting of the forum include a setting up of domain-expert groups in five sectors - agriculture, water, health, energy and hi-tech.

He also proposed exchange of corporate executive, professors and students.

 

[Veeru]

India need to boost its relations with energy rich Middle east and Africa.

We can provide aid and send Indian companies to execute projects over there it will make our companies more competitive and surplus labour will be used there and they will send $$$$ back home.

 

[jdme]

HA. India should first tackle its own poverty(more poor than all of ME combined)! Besides, India has no influence over Arab countries.

 

[Mech]

HA. India should first tackle its own poverty(more poor than all of ME combined)! Besides, India has no influence over Arab countries.

Maybe this is a call to take advantage of the current situation in the Middle-East. I am interested in hearing your reply to my first comment. That is, if you feel it is worthy of mention.

 

[fd24]

I don't understand why they would approach India? I think (as jdme said ) the relationship between Arabs and Indians isn't rock solid. They have problems amongst themselves let alone India! I think the idea is a non starter and time wasting exercise. BTW where is the poverty in the middle east??

 

[Dalai Lama]

Poverty in the Middle East? The Israelis are pulling our leg.

 

[jdme]

Maybe this is a call to take advantage of the current situation in the Middle-East. I am interested in hearing your reply to my first comment. That is, if you feel it is worthy of mention.

I remember having similar discussion with couple of Israelis when I was there. Israel has increasingly used India to reach out to other Muslim nations, economically. Directly, they cannot do any business so they go through Indian companies. Unfortunately, this influence doesn't extend to politics. ME is mostly ruled by dictators and they only care about their self-interest. And worse is yet to come. A democratic Muslim country would be even harder to deal because India is not a Muslim country. Political future of ME countries in very fluid and bleak. India can hardly do anything.

 

[lem34]

you gotta be kidding me this peres guy is taking the proverbial pixx but thats normal for zionists

cant work out if hes making fun of arabs or indians or both.

 

[jdme]

I don't understand why they would approach India? I think (as jdme said ) the relationship between Arabs and Indians isn't rock solid. They have problems amongst themselves let alone India! I think the idea is a non starter and time wasting exercise. BTW where is the poverty in the middle east??

I hope you were joking about this...Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan,....

 

[fd24]

I hope you were joking about this...Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan,....

mate i hear what you are saying and not going to make cheap shots but all have less mouths to feed than India. Relatively speaking all those countries have less poverty.

 

[soul hacker]

phle apne gareban mai to dekho

 

[HZR2011]

Damn those Arabs have oil...they don't need any help...
We need to remove our own poverty first!!!!!!

 

[Veeru]

Poverty Hides Amid Saudi Arabia's Oil Wealth

As an oil exporter, Saudi Arabia is one of the richest countries in the world. And with an economy that is continuing to grow, its reputation among many people in the Arab world is that of a nation of extravagance and, sometimes, excess.

But when you look beyond the luxury SUVs, upscale malls and glittery high rises in the desert kingdom, a far different view of Saudi life emerges — one laced with poverty and unemployment, affecting millions of people. It's a problem many Saudis are reluctant to acknowledge.

In the old section of Riyadh, the capital, Um Fahad pours roasted pumpkin seeds into a plastic shopping bag for a customer. She is one of about a dozen black-veiled women tucked away in tiny stalls at the end of a shopping arcade. Besides the seeds, Um Fahad sells cheap jewelry, embroidered shirts and small woven baskets.

She says she and the others struggle to keep their meager businesses and families afloat.

"Everything is getting harder. Prices are rising, like for these seeds," she says. "Business was better before. But it's not like I can stop working."

Women At Risk

Um Fahad says on a great day, she sells about $40 worth of merchandise. She says more common are the days when she sells nothing at all.

The widowed mother of 11 says all of what she earns goes to feeding her family and to the rent for her stall and for her home. She also gets a few hundred dollars in charity once in a while from family and friends.

But with her landlord planning to raise her house rent by about $100 a month, Um Fahad says she fears she will end up on the street.

Her story is hardly unique in Saudi Arabia. Activists and analysts here say the widow is part of a growing class of impoverished Saudis who don't benefit from the country's vast oil and business wealth.

They say women are especially at risk in this strictly segregated society, which prefers to limit a woman's role to stay-at-home wife and mother.

Columnist Asmaa Al-Mohamed says being widowed or divorced can land even the richest Saudi women in poverty. With no skills and oftentimes no education, what money these women may have in the bank is soon gone.

She adds that Saudi women who seek job training or to start their own businesses also face obstacles because of societal prejudices, despite a multitude of government-sponsored programs aimed at the needy.

'Denying The Problem'

It's not just women who face hurdles. Some experts here say privately that all poor Saudis suffer because the government and society are reluctant to acknowledge poverty in the kingdom.

The government does not routinely issue poverty figures, so it's hard to know how pervasive the problem is. The last figures, released more than three years ago, estimated there were nearly 670,000 poor families.

Businessman Turki Faisal al Rasheed, who has written about Saudi poverty in articles and books, says that translates to about 3 million people, many of them from rural areas.

"Three million is a lot. So when we're talking about Saudis are 18 million, that's a big percentage of Saudis [who] are below the poverty lines," he says.

King Abdullah in late February shone a rare spotlight on struggling Saudis by pledging $37 billion in handouts and loans. Many workers here saw their salary double for one month. He followed up with a pledge to build a half-million homes.

But Rasheed believes handouts don't offer a long-term solution to poverty in the kingdom.

"One of the problems is denying the problem — that it doesn't exist," Rasheed says. "The second thing is like, just give the money away and go sleep comfortably, not to go through the procedure. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of people who are doing a lot of work — very good work. But the problem is the need is much beyond what is being offered."

Rasheed says the government and the private sector need to tackle Saudi poverty at its source — out in the countryside. His proposition: increase development aid and subsidize crops and small businesses in rural areas.

Poverty Hides Amid Saudi Arabia's Oil Wealth : NPR



Now, slap of facts of those who were saying there is no poverty in Middle East.

Even in Saudi Arabia according to Govt of Saudi Arabia there are 670,000 poor families if each family have 6 persons that means there are 40,20000 poor people as per Saudi Arabian govt.