III Congress of World and Traditional Religions is starting

Astana, July 01, 2009 (Khabar) - The 8th sitting of the Secretariat of the World and Traditional Religions has come to an end in the Palace of Independence in Astana. Participants in the meeting made up of over 40 representatives of various beliefs and international organisations discussed the forth-coming congress’s agenda. The Congress of the World and Traditional Religions will last for two days. Over 400 delegates from all over the world will assemble in Astana to take part in the event. A plenary session entitled “the Role of religious leaders in the building of the world based on tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation” will take place on the first day of the forum. As part of Day 2, the work of the congress will be divided into three sections where participants in the meeting are expected to discuss the issues of moral and spiritual values, world ethics, the development of a dialogue and cooperation between religions and solidarity at times of crises. Summarising the results of the meeting, the head of the secretariat, the Kazakhstan Senate Speaker Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev noted that all preparation issues were successfully solved.

Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, head of secretariat, Congress of World and Traditional Religions, Kazakhstan Senate Speaker:
- We are quite surprised with the results of our discussions. I would like to thank all of you for the contribution which you made in such a productive dialogue. I think we should share our ideas in terms of the development of tolerance and accord in between congresses. There is still a great number of issues requiring to be discussed and then solved.