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Kuwait desires Arab-African Summit be free of politics - official

(With photos) KUWAIT, Nov 3 (KUNA) -- Kuwait will host the Arab-African Summit on November 19-20, in line with guidelines of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to repeat successful experience of organizing the Arab Economic, Social, and Development Summit in 2009, Foreign Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah said on Sunday.
His Highness the Amir desires that the upcoming Arab-African Summit focuses on economic issues and keep political affairs for discussion at other quarters, said Al-Jarallah during a meeting with ambassadors of states due to take part in the top-level conference, held at the Foreign Ministry headquarters today.
A large number of meetings, held by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah with African ministers in New York and other cities centered on the necessity that the summit conclude with resolutions on "applicable matters," that political issues be avoided, with emphasis on cooperation on economic and development affairs, Al-Jarallah said.
Avoiding political issues at the summit "will enable the participating states' (officials) to think soundly and sensibly for sake of optimum strategic partnership," stated Al-Jarallah at the meeting, attended by Director General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KAFED) Abdulwahab Al-Bader, Director of the Protocols Department Ambassador Dhari Al-Ajran, Director of the Arab World Department Ambassador AbdulHameed Al-Failakawi and Director of the Africa Department Hamad Al-Mashaan.
Al-Jarallah expressed hope that senior Arab and African officials, due to hold preparatory talks ahead of the summit on November 14-15, would focus on economic issues, cautioning that "raising political questions will waste plenty of opportunities," noting that such topics could be examined at other quarters.
The Undersecretary expressed hope that the ambassadors of the participating states convey to their leaderships Kuwait's desire to center the debates at the summit on the economic affairs, for discussions on such issues could serve development in the Arab and African countries. He also hoped that most senior leaders would take part in the summit.
The summit agenda will include several meetings; the tripartite meeting, which comprises Kuwait, the African Union and the Arab League, on November 13, a meeting of senior officials on November 14-15 and the ministerial meeting on November 17. The participating top leaders will be received as of November 19 and the summit will be inaugurated on November 19 and conclude on the 20th of the month.
Kuwait is looking forward for cooperation with "the brothers and friends in the Arab and African states" and hopes the summit will help boost cooperation among the participating states in a manner that will realize real strategic partnership between the Arab and African states, he said, noting that Kuwait will present certain ideas aimed at bolstering the cooperation among these countries.
For his part, Al-Bader said at the meeting with the diplomats that the Arab-African Economic Forum, due to be hosted by Kuwait on November 11-12, as part of the summit activities, would be patronized by His Highness Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and would be attended by his representative, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Saud Al-Sabah.
The representative of HH the Premier will be the first personality to address the first session of the forum, to be followed by a speech by the Arab League Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Ahmad Bin Hilli, then by Jean-Baptiste Toubo Tanam Natama, Chief of Staff to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
The first session will include seminars about development, expertise exchange, enterprise and prospects of investments in the Arab and African countries. There will be also lectures in the later sessions, tackling Arab-African cooperation on food security, boosting trade exchanges and NGOs' role in supporting development.
The final statement would be referred to summit ministerial meeting, due on November 17. (end) jy.abd.rk KUNA 032041 Nov 13NNNN