Queen Rania Addresses Google Zeitgeist Europe '08 Partner Forum

Queen Rania of Jordan was in Hertfordshire on Monday to speak at the exclusive Google Zeitgeist Partner Forum Europe '08. In her speech, she reiterated the importance of dialogue and mentioned the recent launching of her YouTube channel “to try to dismantle the negative stereotypes about {the Middle East} region that undermine so much trust between the Arab world and the West.” The queen has received over a million hits to her video blog which was introduced in March. Rania expressed her optimism with the project and said, “for all the tensions, most people on both sides agree that the relationship between the Muslim and Western worlds is something important to them.

“Not only {have} that, but when people actually get to know one another personally, their preconceptions melt away and their attitudes towards one another improve.”

“And here’s the best part: A journey of a thousand miles can begin with a single click. With new technologies, we don’t have to leave home to make a friend half a world away.”

As she closed her remarks, the queen expressed her desire to empower the next generation with skills and opportunities that insured global success in the workplace with the following statement: “In a world where stereotypes are assumed to be the norm, would two twenty-something kids working out of their parents’ basement ever have had the chance to turn a research project into a worldwide synonym for fun, innovation and success?”

“We must make sure that the same chances are there for the Pages and Brins of the Arab world…that they have the same opportunities of walking out of garage doors into global boardrooms…and that executives don’t shut those doors because they think they know what to expect from the Middle East.”

“You can help empower the Google generation– not only in the online world, but in the one world we call home.”

The entire speech by Queen Rania at the Google Zeitgeist Partner Forum Europe’08 can be read here.

Photo: Petra