KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced the formation of the Institute of Wasatiyyah, or 'moderation' in Arabic, after inaugurating the International Conference on the Global Movement of Moderates on Tuesday (January 17th), The Malaysia Star reported.

On the first day of the three-day conference, where 60 speakers and 350 delegates have gathered from 70 countries, he also announced the launch of the new Global Movement of the Moderates Foundation and launched his book on the same subject.

He said the conference aims to provide a platform for all to learn from each other and foster understanding in a time of great disarray, Bernama reported.

Razak first spearheaded the idea for the movement during his 2010 speech to the 65th UN General Assembly in New York, where he urged world leaders to reclaim the agenda of peace and pragmatism and to marginalize the extremists.