by Michael E. Salla, Ph.D.
January 13, 2011

from Exopolitics Website

A leading business forum discussing global competitiveness will in its annual conference host a panel discussing UFOs and extraterrestrial life.

The Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) is hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and discusses business trends and insights essential for future business investment and competitiveness.

The panel is titled: "Contact - Learning from Outer Space", and features astrophysicist Dr Michio Kaku and a leading Islamic scholar, together with prominent UFO experts Stanton Friedman and Nick Pope:

Contact - Learning from Outer Space
Psychological and socio-cultural assumptions and preconceptions constrain us to a large extent, and shape our views of the universe so that we are inclined to find what we are looking for, and fail to see what we are not.

 

Using knowledge gained from research in the fields of Ufology and the search for extraterrestrial life, what might we possibly learn about hindrances to innovation in other areas of inquiry?

• Innovation and anthropomorphism, ethnocentrism and ego

• Falsification and the evidence of absence

• What Giordano Bruno would say

The Global Competitiveness Forum is poised to introduce, perhaps for the first time, many world business leaders to key issues concerning UFOs and extraterrestrial life, and how these impact on economic competitiveness.

The Global Competitiveness Forum is hosted by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority and will be hosted in the capital Riyadh from January 22-25, 2011.

The GCF website says:

The Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF), the only event of its kind, is an annual meeting of global business leaders, international political leaders, and selected intellectuals and journalists brought together to create a dialogue with respect to the positive impact organizational and national competitiveness can have on local, regional and global economic and social development.

 

It was founded in 2006 by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), and is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia under the patronage of HM King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

The description for the GCF's forthcoming panel on "Contact - Learning from Outer Space" is:

Psychological and socio-cultural assumptions and preconceptions constrain us to a large extent, and shape our views of the universe so that we are inclined to find what we are looking for, and fail to see what we are not.

According to an email from veteran UFO researcher Stanton Friedman, the panel will feature five speakers including himself:

It is interesting that the 5th Annual Global Competitiveness Forum to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 23-26 has the courage to have a panel "Contact - Learning from Outer Space." Featuring Dr. Jacques Vallee, Nick Pope, Dr. Michio Kaku, myself and an Egyptian Scientist Dr. Zaghloul El Naggar", a member of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs.

A clue into what is likely to be discussed in the upcoming panel is the question:

"using knowledge gained from research in the fields of Ufology and the search for extraterrestrial life, what might we possibly learn about hindrances to innovation in other areas of inquiry?"

The GCF appears to be interested in learning about how information and/or technology has been constrained in the past, and what this means for the future business investment.

In a recent book, Flying Saucers and Science and article on his website, Stanton Friedman discusses how nuclear fusion energies were stifled in the past, along with repression of information concerning extraterrestrial life and technologies used for interstellar propulsion.

Similarly, Michio Kaku has described some of the advanced energy propulsion systems most likely to be used by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations.

The GCF hopes to stimulate dialogue over how issues related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life impact on the national competitiveness of oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia.

As the world's leading oil energy supplier, Saudi Arabia is taking a keen interest in future trends where new energy systems are developed for mass consumption.

By taking a proactive role in business dialogue and investment plans that discuss extraterrestrial life and alternative/new energy technologies, Saudi Arabia hopes to use its enormous wealth as a means of ensuring the future prosperity of its kingdom and citizens.

That is both the right political move and smart business strategy, and will encourage world business leaders to also take proactive steps on issues related to extraterrestrial life and technology.