Thirty-six of of the world’s top thinkers in economics, medicine, physics and literature, as well as former presidents, prime ministers and government officials, will participate in the conference on May 18 and 19, 2005, according to media reports. They include President Bill Clinton, Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa Singapore senior minister Goh Chok Tong, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Nobel laureates Betty Williams, V.S. Naipaul, and others.
Actor and Chairman of International Campaign for Tibet’s Board of Director Richard Gere is also participating in the conference.
In March, King Abdullah announced the proposed conference saying, “The Petra Conference of Nobel Laureates will give participants a private, collegial setting to work on urgent issues and forge a new consensus on solutions.” The King announced that the “conclusions and vision” of the Petra conference will be presented to the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea beginning on May 20, 2005.
According to the Tibetan Government-in-Exile website www.tibet.net, the Dalai Lama will also have programs with Islamic leaders and students in Jordan’s capital, Amman, on May 20th, before returning to India.