LOC16:53
13:53 GMT
(with photos)
CAIRO, Aug 30 (KUNA) -- The preparatory committee of the Arab Economic and
Social Council met at Arab League headquarters here on Sunday to prepare for
84th session of the council on Tuesday.
The council will meet on the level of senior officials on Tuesday and the
ministerial level on Thursday.
The two-day meeting of the preparatory committee, chaired by Director of
the Foreign Economic Affairs Division of the Iraqi Ministry of Commerce Dr.
Ra'ad Khairallah Al-Assadi, gathers representatives of the Arab ministries of
commerce, economy and finance.
Speaking to reporters after the opening session, Al-Assadi said the
follow-up of the resolutions of the Arab Economic, Social and Development
Summit, held in Kuwait in January, features prominently on the agenda of the
meeting.
"Also on top of the agenda is the implementation of the Greater Arab Free
Trade Area (GAFTA) and the Arab customs union as well as other initiatives
aiming to facilitate and increase the volume of the bilateral trade among the
Arab countries," Al-Assadi pointed out.
"Under the GAFTA procedures the chambers of commerce of the Arab countries
will be entitled to issue certificates origin to the exports of their
respective countries," he said.
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League for Economic
Affairs Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Tweijri said the committee probed the
recommendations of the Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit with
emphasis on the suggested integrated program for facilitating trade among the
Arab countries.
The debates focus on ways to facilitate the movement of capital and
business people among the Arab countries and support the small and medium
enterprises, Al-Tweijri pointed out.
Sudan's suggestion on the Arab food security project will be also mooted
during the meeting along with the wheat and rice production projects and the
project to control the unemployment rates, the, he added.
Kuwait is represented at the meeting by Assistant Undersecretary of the
Ministry of Finance Sami Nasser Al-Saq'abi. (end)
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